North Arkansas prosecutors alleged that a 20-year-old named Jason Paul Nazarenko was under the influence of alcohol in 1995 when he drove around a curve too swift and crashed, killing a woman named Donna Nemeth and injuring his two other passengers.
Three years later, a jury would acquit Nazarenko of driving while intoxicated and felony negligent homicide, charges for which he faced up to six years in prison.
Last week, Nazarenko was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives.
A Republican from Cotter in Baxter County, Narazenko won the Republican primary in May and was unopposed in the general election. He had the endorsement of Gov. Sarah Sanders and outgoing Rep. Jack Fortner (R-Yellville) and collected hefty donations from committees associated with Sanders and her father, former Gov. Mike Huckabee.
I’m proud to support Jason Nazarenko for Arkansas State House District 4.
As a blackhawk pilot for the Army’s elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, Jason could have lived anywhere in the country. He chose to come back home to Cotter where he continues to serve his… https://t.co/J9XJrd8SiJ
— Sarah Huckabee Sanders (@SarahHuckabee) February 6, 2024
The family of Donna Nemeth said the 1995 car accident destroyed them. It’s absurd that Nazarenko is allowed to serve in elected office, they said.
Path to victory
Nazarenko, who did not return a call seeking comment for this story, has an impressive resume for a state legislative candidate. He graduated from Cotter High School in 1994, flew helicopters during a 23-year career in the Army and later returned to Cotter, where he recently began a job in business development for the local hospital. He also volunteers to lead the local chamber of commerce and owns a vacation rental business.
Nazarenko’s campaign website says he is pro-life and pro-Second Amendment, and that he wants to protect “conservative Christian values.” He also says he is a powerful supporter of law enforcement and first responders.
Nazarenko’s campaign website makes no mention of the notable events of 1995 or his trial in 1998.
The accident, and the aftermath
On Oct. 21, 1995, Nazarenko was driving a car that crashed while traveling around a curve marked for 20 miles per hour, according to an affidavit filed by Mark Morton, the state trooper on the scene. A crash reconstruction expert with the Arkansas State Police estimated Nazarenko had been traveling at a speed of 46 to 56 miles per hour. The trooper said this was “an excessive rate of speed for the terrain and conditions.”
The trooper said he smelled “an odor of alcohol” on Nazarenko, who registered a blood alcohol content of .07%, although the trooper noted the test was performed 60 to 90 minutes after the accident. The legal limit for intoxication at the time was .1%. (Today, it is .08%.)
Morton said he interviewed Nazarenko but also said “a detailed interview with Mr. Nazarenko was not possible due to his injuries.” Court documents do not provide any additional details on the location of the accident, the nature or extent of Nazarenko’s injuries or how Nemeth died.
Mark Cooper, Nazarenko’s attorney, filed a motion to toss out the blood alcohol test results, saying the paperwork associated with it was not sufficient. Cooper said there was no evidence other than “a vague allegation of speeding” to show Nazarenko was affected by alcohol. It’s not clear whether the judge ruled on Cooper’s motion to toss the alcohol test results.
The case went to trial in 1998 and, on March 11 of that year, a jury acquitted Nazarenko of both charges against him.
YOUNGER DAYS: Donna Nemeth is pictured here at age 25 or 26, about two years before her death. Credit: Jenny Hough
The Arkansas Times spoke with members of Nemeth’s family by phone Wednesday. They paint a heart-wrenching picture of the wreck and its aftermath.
Inside the car that night were Nazarenko, Nemeth, Jenny Hough and Sarah Graham, Nemeth’s best friend.
Hough, now 47, is Nemeth’s sister and was married to Nazarenko at the time (It was actually their second marriage to one another while still in their juvenile adulthood).
On the night of the wreck, Hough said the group was hanging out at a friend’s house in the Baxter County town of Midway, north of Cotter. When they left, the group loaded into Nazarenko’s car with Hough driving. At some point, Hough pulled over and Nazarenko took the wheel.
Hough has a circumscribed memory of the events, since she suffered short-term and long-term memory loss from the wreck. But in comparing notes from that night, Hough said Sarah remembers Nazarenko was swerving the car to to scare the girls. Nazarenko then swerved the car off the road in Gassville, between Midway and Cotter, and the car wrecked.
Hough recalls waking up in the road and hearing her sister screaming, which turned to moaning, which turned to silence. Nemeth, 28, died before the ambulance arrived, Hough said.
Hough said she was admitted to the intensive care unit at a hospital for seven days and that she attended her sister’s funeral on a stretcher. Her face was so beaten up that the hospital covered the mirrors so she wouldn’t see herself during physical therapy. Glass was still being picked out of her face years later, family members said.
Hough said Nazarenko asked her for a divorce shortly after she was released from the hospital.
Nemeth’s father retreated into himself, family members said, focusing only on his work and reading The Bible. “My dad wanted to die,” said Tammy Prestwood, another of Nemeth’s sisters.
MOTHER AND DAUGHTER: Donna Nemeth, left, with her daughter Alyssa. Credit: Jenny Hough
Nemeth had a 2-year-old daughter, Alyssa, at the time of the accident. The toddler went to live with her father in Missouri. A few years later, she would be diagnosed with a trauma-related condition that caused her to pull her hair out. Doctors said it was likely related to losing her mother, moving out of state and not seeing her family.
Alyssa Crawford is now 31. When she graduated high school at 17, she moved back to Arkansas to be closer to her mother’s side of the family. She lives in Mountain Home now. She said the hair-pulling dissipated but returned a few years ago, along with some other traumas in her life. She said Nazarenko has been able to lead “a full life” but she’s never received an apology from him.
As for Nazarenko, the family members say he benefited from the delayed court proceedings — the case didn’t go to trial until nearly three years after the crash. By that time, Nazarenko had supporters from a church and a military career, which was evident in the people supporting Nazarenko’s side of the courtroom, they said.
“On the other side was me and my mother and my father,” Prestwood said.
Hough said Nazarenko “disappeared” after the trial until she saw him at a Turkey Trot event last year, having seemingly “reappeared out of nowhere.”
“It was like somebody punched me in the face,” she said.
Hough said she approached Nazarenko and asked him about the drunk driving, Nemeth’s death and the lack of repercussions.
“He didn’t say anything to me. He just acted like I wasn’t there,” Hough said.
She said she later emailed Nazarenko. He responded that the two should meet in public. Hough declined.
She said her family has struggled ever since Nemeth’s death.
“It literally destroyed us,” she said.
Acquitted
Among the members of the defense’s witness list was Benny Magness, then the Baxter County sheriff and now a long-time member to the Arkansas Board of Corrections.
Magness said by phone Tuesday that he remembered the case, although he did not remember many of the details. He said he didn’t remember if he testified at trial.
He said he did not have an issue with Nazarenko being elected to public office, noting that Nazarenko was acquitted of the charges against him. Magness, who said he knew Nazarenko’s family at the time of the incident, said there was a lot to be admired about Nazarenko’s military career, and that the 1995 incident should not be a hindrance in Nazarenko’s public or private life.
Gordon Webb, the prosecuting attorney in the case, said by phone Tuesday he did not remember the case, noting that he had tried around 1,000 cases over his 24 years in office. Webb said Nazarenko’s name sounded familiar when he saw that he was running for office but he didn’t know why until a reporter brought the negligent homicide case to his attention.
Webb echoed Magness’ sentiments about Nazarenko’s acquittal.
“The net effect of an acquittal is the person is not guilty. That’s the law and that’s the way it has to be treated,” he said.
Nemeth’s family members feel strongly Nazarenko shouldn’t be serving in office.
The surviving sisters disagree. Asked if he should serve in the Legislature, they answered, absolutely not. They said it’s not fair at all.
Nemeth is buried in Flippin in Marion County.
Credit: A Craig
