Court grants time-served release in hit-and-run case

Published 5:34 pm Wednesday, May 20, 2026

A Lafayette County Circuit Court judge has amended the sentence of the man convicted of killing Ole Miss student Walker Fielder and critically injuring another student in a hit-and-run in 2022, and ordered his release after determining he had demonstrated rehabilitation while incarcerated.

According to an amended sentencing order filed April 8, 2026, Seth Garron Rokitka originally pleaded guilty in August 2025 to aggravated DUI and leaving the scene of an accident in Lafayette County. He was initially sentenced to 10 years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections on the leaving-the-scene charge and an additional five-year suspended sentence with post-release supervision on the aggravated DUI charge.

The sentences were ordered to run consecutively.

Judge Kent Smith wrote in the amended order that the court reviewed Rokitka’s request for reconsideration and found he was “worthy of reconsideration” based on his rehabilitation, institutional conduct, education and treatment efforts while incarcerated.

The order noted Rokitka had been jailed since his arrest on Oct. 17, 2022, and had served nearly two years.

Under the revised sentence, Rokitka’s 10-year sentence was reduced to time served, with the remainder suspended pending future good behavior. The court ordered his immediate release and placed him on five years of reporting post-release supervision. The order also allows him to transfer supervision to Tennessee, where he lived before his incarceration.

As part of the amended sentence, Rokitka must complete 50 hours of community service with the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department and submit to random alcohol and drug testing.

The order also imposes multiple supervision conditions, including maintaining employment, avoiding alcohol and controlled substances, remaining law-abiding, and not carrying weapons.

A second man, 18-year-old Tristan Holland of Collierville, was also arrested and charged with accessory after the fact.