Middletown crash: Speed believed to be factor in crash that killed Lakota West freshman

An 18-year-old Liberty Twp. 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 south on North Verity Parkway near Hughes Street about 11:15 p.m. on the night of March 23 when she lost control of the speeding vehicle and it flipped 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 in the road and ran off the roadway, overturning the Cadillac Escalade that she was driving and landing the vehicle in a woodline. Laith Masri died at the scene.”

Kumar and passengers Akshay Kumar, 14, of Liberty Twp.: Anmar Masri, 12, of Liberty Twp.; Ameer Aldaoud, 14, of Fairfield Twp., and Genesis Hope Sookha, 15, of West Chester Twp. were all injured and taken to area hospitals for treatment.

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

Kumar’s plea before Butler County Common Pleas Judge Greg Howard was to a bill of information, which means she admitted to the crime and bypassed the grand jury process that could have resulted in 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 a maximum of 90 months in prison. Howard set sentencing for Jan. 15.