Man charged with Manslaughter in connection with fatal New Year’s Day crash - KWKT

HARKER HEIGHTS, Texas (FOX 44) - A 41-year-old Killeen man has been charged with Manslaughter in connection with a fatal New Year's Day crash in Harker Heights. According to Harker Heights Police Chief Sonja V. Clay, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Bell County's Sheriff's Office served an arrest warrant for Scott Dewayne Cotton on Wednesday. He was charged in connection with the fatal crash which occurred in the 400 block of FM-3219. A woman, identified as Cierra Nowlin, of Harker Heights, died in the crash. Another person received injuries. Chief Clay says Emergency Services were originally dispatched to the area of FM-3219 and East Veterans Memorial Boulevard on Thursday, January 1 in reference to an OnStar vehicle crash alarm which was activated. Responding officers discovered a blue 2006 Cadillac collided with a tree a short distance away from the roadway. EMS arrived and attended to the driver and an unresponsive passenger who was still inside the vehicle. The passenger was transported to Seton Hospital in Harker Heights for further treatment, while the driver was transported to Scott and White Hospital in Temple. Chief Clay says the passenger, identified as Nowlin, succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead by Judge Gregory Johnson at 2:43 a.m. An autopsy was ordered. The Harker Heights Police Department’s Traffic Management Unit actively investigated this crash to determine the cause and the factors leading to the collision and Nowlin's death. Cotton is currently in the Bell County Jail. His bond is set at $120,000.