Six years for killing motorcyclist

An Odessa woman was sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison after she pleaded guilty to killing a motorcyclist in an accident and then trying to flee from the crash.

Judge Bill McCoy handed down the sentence in Bonnie Jean Tolbert's plea deal, Ector County District Attorney Bobby Bland said. She was taken to the Ector County Detention Center and is expected to go to a state prison soon.

"My attorneys that handled that did a very good job of making sure justice was done in that case," Bland said. "It's certainly in line with what juries have been doing in Ector County."

Tolbert pleaded guilty to a charge of manslaughter and a charge of failing to stop and render aid.

The charges come from a Sept. 15, 2007, accident at West University Boulevard and Conover Drive, when Tolbert's 1998 Chevrolet Lumina collided with a 1996 Harley-Davidson driven by Kyle Wayne Fowler. He was taken to Medical Center Hospital and died later that evening.

At the time of the crash, police said Tolbert was making a left onto Conover from West University and failed to yield to Fowler's motorcycle.