Hagler denied parole

By Scott Loftis SLoftis@cherryroad.com

Neal Scott Hagler, the Berryville man who was sentenced to six years in prison in November 2021 in connection with a 2018 accident that resulted in his girlfriend’s death, will have to remain behind bars for at least another year after the Arkansas Parole Board voted 5-0 last month to deny his request for parole.

Neal Hagler

A July 1 memorandum from parole board chairman John Felts to the Arkansas Department of Corrections’ Grimes Unit near Newport — where Hagler is being held — says the board voted 5-0 to deny Hagler’s request for one year. In a space designated for “Reason for Recommended Action,” Felts wrote: “Death Involved, Nature & Seriousness Crime, Prior Criminal History, & Nature of Violation.”

Hagler, 23, was sentenced by Special Circuit Judge Gary Arnold in April 2019 to one year in the county jail and 15 years’ supervised probation after pleading guilty to felony negligent homicide and four misdemeanor counts. Hagler’s girlfriend, 20-year-old Destiny Mock, died in a Springfield, Mo., hospital on June 24, 2018 — two days after the accident that occurred on Carroll County Road 428.

According to a preliminary fatal crash summary from the Arkansas State Police, Hagler was driving a 2011 Chevrolet westbound on Carroll County Road 428 at 9:50 p.m. when he failed to stop at the intersection of County Road 404 and struck a tree. Hagler was arrested after a Carroll County Sheriff’s Office deputy noticed the odor of intoxicants and he failed a field sobriety test, according to a probable-cause affidavit.

At his sentencing hearing on April 26, 2019, Hagler apologized to Mock’s family and admitted that he was under the influence of alcohol when the accident occurred.

“I was speeding,” Hagler said. “I had a wreck and caused the death of Destiny Mock. I had marijuana in the vehicle and I had no driver’s license.”

After probation officials reported that he had violated the terms of his probation by failing to report, failing to provide a sample for a drug test, admitting to using marijuana and methamphetamine and failing to maintain employment, Arnold issued two separate warrants for Hagler’s arrest in June and July 2020.

Hagler turned himself in at the Arkansas Department of Probation and Parole’s Berryville office on April 26, 2021 — the two-year anni versary of his original sentencing date.

On Oct. 25, Arnold signed an order revoking Hagler’s probation and sentencing him to six years in prison, to be followed by four years suspended imposition of sentence. Arnold also ordered that Hagler would receive no credit for time served in the county jail.

According to the Department of Corrections, Hagler’s “initial receipt date” was Nov. 24, 2021.

Hagler, who was credited for 181 days served in the Carroll County Detention Center before his original sentencing, was released from jail on Oct. 27, 2019. He was arrested less than three months later, on Jan. 14, 2020, and accused of violating the terms of his probation. He was released 12 days later on a $10,000 bond.

A probation officer reported in June 2020 that Hagler was “actively evading supervision.”

In an order filed June 19, 2020, Arnold instructed the circuit clerk to issue a warrant for Hagler’s arrest. Hagler failed to appear at a July 24, 2020, revocation hearing, prompting Arnold to order that a second warrant be issued.