JACKSON — An Oak Hill man faces nearly a decade in prison for the death of a 10-year-old girl from South Point.

In a case that had been ongoing for more than a year and a half, Christopher Haines, 32, pleaded guilty to the aggravated vehicular homicide of Angel McGinnis and three counts of aggravated vehicular assault Tuesday in Jackson County Common Pleas Court.

Paul Scarcella, special prosecutor for the case, from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, said the resolution in the case was a negotiated plea deal with Haines that “the family was in agreement with.”

Scarcella said Haines could face a maximum sentence of 9 and a half years in prison. Sentencing will be scheduled following a pre-sentence investigation, he said.

Haines remains in the Jackson County Jail.

In December 2010, Haines was driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee on State Route 93, when that vehicle rear-ended a car driven by Marsha McGinnis of South Point.

McGinnis’ vehicle was stopped in the southbound lane of the highway at the 10-mile marker. The impact sent her car left of center where it was struck by another car. Deborah Miller was northbound on State Route 93. At the time of the accident, the Ohio State Highway Patrol said Haines had been under the influence of drugs.

Ten-year-old Angel McGinnis, a student at South Point Elementary, died at Cabell Huntington Hospital the day of the accident where her mother, Marsha, and her younger brother, Brice, had been treated and released.