A witness claims there was nothing Nathan Rhinewalt could have done to avoid a deadly boating crash that took place on the Rez last month.
Two boats crashed at 1 AM on the upper lake on September on September 20, resulting in the death of Madison Alford, 23, of Lena. Four other people suffered injuries while two escaped injury. The boats were driven by Nathan Rhinewalt and Nelson Jiminez.
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| Credit: WLBT |
Reservoir police charged Rhinewalt with three counts of aggravated BUI and one count of manslaughter in the death of Madison Alford, Rankin County Court Judge David Morrow set Rhinewalt's bond at $550,000.
Jiminez stands accused of culpable negligence manslaughter, Aggravated BUI andwitness tampering. Judge Morrow set his bond at $550,000. Both men remain in custody.
The police report states
On Sunday, September 20, 2026, at approximately 0143 hours, I, Sgt. Brittany DeRosla-Black, responded to Tommy's Trading Post regarding a two-vessel boating accident with Injuries. Upon arrival, I made contact with one of the two boat operators, Identified as Mr. Nathan Lane Rhinewalt (DOB: 04/07/2005), and one of his passengers, Identified as Mr. Cade Garon Aylesworth.
Mr. Rhinewalt stated he was traveling in the middle of the river channel when he saw another vessel traveling towards the starboard side of his vessel. Mr. Rhinewalt stated he saw blue strip lights on the side of the approaching vessel, but he did not see any navigation lights on the other vessel. Mr. Rhinewalt stated he attempted to steer left to avoid a collision. Mr. Rhinewalt stated the other vessel made contact with the starboard side of his vessel, causing disabling damage to both vessels. Mr. Rhinewalt stated there were five Individuals total on his vessel and two total on the other vessel. Mr. Rhinewalt stated there were several injuries and he woke up in the water after the collision.
At approximately 0230 hours, while speaking with Mr. Rhinewalt, I smelled the odor of an Intoxicating beverage coming from his person. I asked Mr. Rhinewalt if he consumed any alcohol; he replled yes. Mr. Rhinewalt stated he had four beers and two mixed drinks, and his last sip of alcohol was around 1:30 AM. Mr. Rhinewalt consented to a PBT (Portable Breath Test), which resulted in a positive presence of alcohol on his breath.
At approximately 0301 hours, Mr. Rhinewalt was placed under arrest for BUI and transported to the Reservoir Police Department, located at 100 Reservoir Park Road, Brandon, MS 39047. At approximately 0320 hours, upon arrival at the PD, Mr. Rhinewalt consented to the Intoxilyzer 9000. The Intoxilyzer gave an error message that read "Standard Check Falled".
At approximately 0410 hours, I transported Mr. Rhinewalt to Merit Health River Oaks, located at 1030 River Oaks Drive, Flowood, MS 39232. Mr. Rhinewalt signed a consent form for a blood analysis. The evidence was collected and sealed at the hospital, then transported back to Reservolr PD. Mr. Rhinewalt also recelved three stitches to his right eye, near his eyebrow.
At approximately 0659 hours, I transported Mr. Rhinewalt to Rankin County Detention Center for BUI MS Code 59-23-7 (4), with a court date set for October 13, 2026, at 9:00 AM....
Rhinewalt filed a motion to modify his bond, dismiss a duplicative count and a witness-tampering charge last week. The defendant argues testimony from a witness merits the dismissal of some charges as well as the reduction of bond.
Cade Aylesworth was a passenger on Rhinewalt's boat when the deadly collision took place. Aylesworth provided an affidavit that tells a slightly different story of what took place in those early morning hours.
Aylesworth said Nelson called him to find out where Rhinewalt's boat was. Aylesworth provided the the location to Nelson who allegedly said he would "be right there."
4. Nathan's boat had its navigation lights on before and at the time of the collision. 5. Immediately before the collision, Nathan was operating our boat in the center of the river's navigation charmel. Nelson's boat approached our boat from the right, traveling approximately perpendicular to our direction of travel. 6. Nelson's navigation lights were off as his boat approached. He did not turn those lights on until immediately before the collision. 7. By the time Nelson turned on his navigation lights, his boat was too close for Nathan to avoid the collision. Based on my personal observations, there was nothing Nathan could have done at that point to prevent the collision. Nathan reacted quickly by turning sharply to the left, which raised the right side of our boat. When Nelson's boat struck that side, the impact lifted our boat upwards rather than carrying Nelson's boat over the top of ours. Based on what I observed, I believe Nathan's quick reaction helped prevent more severe injuries to those aboard our boat.
Aylesworth took exception to any allegations Rhinewalt was drunk:
9. I was with Nathan aboard the boat and had the opportunity to observe him before the collision. Nathan did not appear to me to be impaired in any way and I did not observe Nathan drink any alcohol (or anyone else, for that matter) during the time that we were out on the water. I would not, personally, have gotten in the boat with Nathan driving if I had thought he was impaired in any way.
A name familiar to JJ readers popped up at the end of the affidavit:
I0. All of the aforementioned statements were previously given to Corporal Brady Chamblee on or about Sunday, September 20, 2026. Jamie Barnett with Game & Fish was also present.
It is not known if Officer Chamblee lost his taser or called a drug dog.
Rhinewalt argued the charges for manslaughter and aggravated BUI be dismissed:
1Defendant would further show that, during his probation-revocation hearing in the Scott County Circuit Court on October 6, 2026, Sgt. Brittany Black testified that statements from other witnesses corroborated Aylesworth’s account of the cause of the collision. When undersigned counsel asked Sgt. Black to identify any evidence that Defendant had negligently operated his boat, she refused to answer. Defendant submits that the corroborated eyewitness account, together with the absence of identified evidence of negligent operation by Defendant, undermines any finding of probable cause as to the charged offenses requiring negligent causation. Accordingly, unless the State presents evidence establishing probable cause to believe that Defendant’s negligent conduct caused the alleged death or injuries, Defendant respectfully requests dismissal of the aggravated-boating-under-the-influence charges and the culpable-negligence manslaughter charge.
The defendant pleaded guilty to statutory rape in Scott County Circuit Court in May 2025. The victim was between 14 and 16 while Rhinewalt was 19 years old when the crime was committed. The Court sentenced him to serve five years in prison but suspended the entire sentence. The Court held a hearing and revoked his bond.
The motion posits one count of aggravated BUI duplicates the other two counts since they all name the same victims and thus should be dismissed. Prosecutors charged Rhinewalt with witness tampering, alleging he tried to get Aylesworth to "testify falsely." However, claimed the defendant, the charge should be attributed to Nelson Jiminez and thus should be dismissed or clarified.
Jiminez is charged with manslaughter, two counts of aggravated BUI resulting in injury or death, aggravated BUI, and witness tampering.
A hearing is scheduled for October 27. Attorney James Murphy represents Rhinewalt.
4 comments:
hello attorney james murphy..............please check into the history of brady chamblee.
his mere presence will prove to be toxic to this investigation, as the kingfish has already proven.
Sad thing. Grandad always said,” Ain’t no good in no bottle.” Meaning liquor.
If Nathan Rhinewalt had exercised his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent...
I'm no expert boater but isn't the rule of thumb to always turn RIGHT to avoid a collision? Also if someone is coming at you from the right you're supposed to get out of their way. So it sounds like Rhinewalt screwed up.
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