Lincoln Man Found Guilty In Death Of Passenger

FAYETTEVILLE -- A Lincoln man faces 40 years in prison after leaving his passenger to burn to death in the truck he wrecked.

A jury found Kevin Fair Cain guilty of negligent homicide April 8 in Washington County Circuit Court.

Cain, 41, had at least five drugs in his system when he lost control of his vehicle, over-corrected, crashed into an embankment and rolled. The truck then burned.

Danielle Bishop, 34, was a passenger in the 1994 Chevrolet pickup driven by Cain. The accident happened about 10:45 p.m. Aug. 27 just north of the Washington and Crawford county line on Arkansas 59.

Bishop crawled away from the burning truck and suffered second and third-degree burns over 70 percent of her body. Attempts to resuscitate her at the scene were unsuccessful.

The jury took about an hour to find Cain guilty, then recommended the maximum possible sentence, 40 years at the Arkansas Department of Correction and a $15,000 fine. Cain was eligible for a stiffer sentence because he has 14 felony convictions, along with a slew of misdemeanor convictions, and is considered a habitual offender. The convictions range from drugs to theft to driving under the influence. Had Cain not been a habitual offender the maximum prison term would have been 20 years.

"If this isn't a 40-year case, I don't know what is," Terra Stephenson, deputy prosecutor, told jurors. "He let her die in that truck. He made no attempt to get her out. I think 40 is not enough in this case."

Cain must serve one-third of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole. With "good time," it could be as little as one-sixth. Being eligible for parole doesn't necessarily mean parole will be granted.

Lonnie O'Bryant, a passerby who tried unsuccessfully to get Bishop out of the pickup, said in the penalty phase of the trial, "I can hear her scream every day, I'll never forget seeing her waving her arms and hearing her scream. I couldn't get her out and I can't forgive myself for that. I hope she knows I tried."

O'Bryant said Cain did nothing to help Bishop escape the burning pickup or comfort her as she lay on the side of the road dying. Instead, Cain was trying to get a ride away from the scene.

"Maybe I was raised different, but I was raised to show compassion and respect to women," O'Bryant said. "There was no one showing her that out there."

Stephenson noted Cain retrieved his duffle bags from the pickup.

"He knows he left her in there to die," Stephenson told jurors. "Not only did he not drag her out of the vehicle, he left her there. He didn't care about her."