Sheriff Jon Hayden confirmed that 69-year-old Willie G. Holsapple appeared in McCracken Circuit Court on Thursday and entered a guilty plea to vehicular homicide, which is a downgrade from the 2nd degree manslaughter charge at his March 2017 indictment. He also plead guilty to unsworn falsification to authorities.
The recommended sentence on the vehicular homicide charge is two years in prison, and Holsapple will likely get 90 days on the falsification charge, with sentences running concurrently.
He has been in jail or under house arrest as the case moved through the courts, so with credit for time served, Holsapple may have completed his sentence by the time it is formally announced by the judge in August.
Newberry was struck while riding a bicycle along Old Cairo Road on October 13, 2016. He was thrown from the bike and suffered trauma to his head and chest. Medical personnel tried to revive Newberry until he arrived at Lourdes Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
