Shreveport police have filed manslaughter charges against Jimmy Ray White, the driver accused of hitting and killing a teenager who had stopped to help a stranded motorist and then driving nine blocks with the victim's body on the hood and partly through the windshield of his car before dumping him on the side of the street. The manslaughter charge, which carries a prison sentence of up to 40 years upon conviction, supercedes the hit-and-run driving charge initially filed by police. Part of Louisiana's manslaughter law deals with an unintentional killing that occurs while another felony is committed -- in this case an alleged hit-and-run, Caddo Assistant District Attorney Bill Edwards said. White, 52, is accused of killing 16-year-old Byrd High School student Adam Klingensmith last Friday night. Klingensmith and two other teens were headed home from another friend's house when they stopped to help a woman push her stalled car out of the street on Linwood Avenue. The other boys saw a speeding car coming at them and jumped out of the way. Klingensmith didn't have time to react and was hit from behind and killed, police said. The motorist drove away with Klingensmith's body on the hood and partly through the windshield, police said. Police found Klingensmith's body at the corner of Dowdell and Claiborne streets. White, who police believe changed a flat tire after the accident and then went to bed, was arrested after the woman who owned the car saw news reports about a fatal hit-and-run and called police. White is held in Caddo Correctional Center. He is awaiting his initial court appearance and has not been arraigned.
