Alec Paul Rhoads (Bedford County Prison) and the scene where he shot and killed Daren Lingenfelter with a crossbow (WTAJ screenshot)
A 27-year-old man in Pennsylvania will spend more than a year behind bars for killing his friend, shooting him in the neck with a crossbow bolt as the victim’s girlfriend watched in horror before he fled the scene without attempting to help the victim.
Common Pleas Judge Travis Livengood on Friday ordered Alec Paul Rhoads to serve a sentence of five years in a state correctional facility with a chance for parole after 15 months in the 2021 slaying of Daren Lingenfelter, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
In August, Rhoads pleaded no contest to one count of involuntary manslaughter in the grisly death. He was initially arrested and charged with one count each of criminal homicide, third-degree murder, aggravated assault, and reckless endangerment. But he reached a deal with prosecutors in which they agreed to drop those charges in exchange for him pleading to manslaughter.
Rhoads’ sentence will be served concurrent — meaning at the same time — to a state prison sentence of six to 12 years he is currently serving after being convicted on two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
In addition to the prison sentence, the judge ordered Rhoads to pay a $ 15,000 fine and $ 6,716 restitution to the Greensburg crime laboratory.
According to a public information release from the Pennsylvania State Police Bedford Division, troopers responded to a residence in the 100 block of Railroad Avenue in Liberty Township at about 10:30 a.m. on May 23, 2021, regarding a person in need of medical assistance.
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First responders found Lingenfelter dead, struck with an arrow bolt discharged from a crossbow in the residence.
A witness identified as the victim’s girlfriend told investigators that Rhoads took the weapon from a bedroom and said he wanted to shoot it but discharged it, striking Lingenfelter in the neck.
She said Rhoads tried to tell her that Lingenfelter was playing with the weapon and accidentally shot himself. However, the witness told investigators that she was in the room with the victim when he was shot and said Lingenfelter was not near the crossbow when he was fatally struck with the bolt.
After shooting Lingenfelter, authorities say Rhoads did nothing to help, instead choosing to flee the residence. Surveillance footage obtained by investigators corroborates Rhoads fleeing, authorities previously stated.
Rhoads was arrested at a residence in James Creek, Pennsylvania, later that day. In his initial interactions with police, he denied ever going to the residence, knowing Lingenfelter, and knowing the witness. He told police that he was mowing grass in another county at the time of the shooting.
Rhoads’ previous felony conviction stemmed from his pleading guilty to being in possession of a controlled substance in 2017, meaning he was legally prohibited from possessing a firearm.
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