By James B. Bartle
A Barnhart man will serve 12 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections for the Dec. 21, 2006 triple fatality accident in which he was drunk driving and a persistent offender.
Ronald L. Wallace, 51, Barnhart, pled guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced by Judge David Hoven to serve 12 years in prison.
According to Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Parks, since more than one person was killed in the accident, the manslaughter charge was issued as a Class B felony which means that Wallace will have to serve 85 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole.
Wallace was indicted by a Franklin County Grand Jury in August 2007, but was not served in the case until January when he was arrested. He had moved out of the area and authorities were unable to locate him.
On Dec. 21, 2006, Sullivan Fire Department, Missouri Baptist Ambulance and the Missouri Highway Patrol responded to a multiple vehicle accident on westbound and eastbound I-44 shortly after 5 p.m.
Wallace, operating a truck eastbound on I-44 while under the influence, ran off the left side of the roadway, crossed a median cable barrier and struck head-on with a westbound vehicle being driven by Miranda L. Ellsworth, 24, St. Louis. Ellsworth was traveling to Salem to visit family during the holidays.
Ellsworth and passenger, William Thompson, 15, both of St. Louis, were pronounced dead at the scene. Another passenger, John Hughes, 21, St. Louis, passed away several months later while a two-year-old victim and daughter of Ellsworth, survived the accident.