Liberty Twp. woman pleads guilty in fatal crash that killed Lakota freshman

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio – An 18-year-old Liberty Twp. A woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to four felony charges, including aggravated vehicular homicide, for being behind the wheel in a March crash that killed a 14-year-old Lakota West freshman and injured an SUV full of teenagers in Middletown.

Rebecca Kumar was driving a 2015 Cadillac SUV at a high rate of speed southbound on North Verity Parkway near Hughes Street on the night of March 23 around 11:15 p.m. when she lost control of the speeding vehicle and it rolled into a wooded area. She had five passengers in the vehicle, including her brother.

Passenger Laith Masri of Liberty Twp. died of multiple traumatic injuries at the scene.

“(Kumar) was traveling south on Verity near Hughes in Middletown at speeds reaching 103 mph in a 35 mph zone,” Assistant Butler County Prosecutor Katie Pridemore said in court. “The defendant missed a curve and ran off the roadway, overturning the Cadillac Escalade he was driving and landing the vehicle in a wooded area. Laith Masri died at the scene.”

Kumar and two 14-year-old passengers, a 12-year-old passenger and a 15-year-old passenger were all injured and taken to area hospitals for treatment.

Three of those injured have lasting physical challenges from their injuries, according to prosecutors.

Kumar’s plea before Butler County Common Pleas Judge Greg Howard was to an information document, meaning he admitted to the crime and avoided a grand jury trial that could have led to an indictment.

Specifically, the charges are: aggravated vehicular homicide, a third-degree felony, and three counts of vehicular assault, a fourth-degree felony.

Kumar faces up to 90 months in prison. Howard set sentencing for Jan. 15.