Liberty Twp. woman sent to prison for high-speed fatal Middletown crash

An 18-year-old Liberty Twp. woman received a prison sentence Wednesday for being behind the wheel of 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 100 mph or more 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 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.

In November, Kumar pleaded guilty in Butler County Common Pleas Court to aggravated vehicular homicide, a third-degree felony and three counts of vehicular assault, a fourth-degree felony.

On Wednesday, Judge Greg Howard sentenced Kumar to two years in prison.

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

“(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 during the plea hearing. “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 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.