Plea deal offered to repo man charged in woman's death


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AMERICAN FORK — Plea negotiations are underway for a repo man charged with manslaughter in the death of a woman he was trying to take a car from.

Kenneth Drew, 50, of American Fork, is charged with second-degree felony manslaughter in the death of 35-year-old Ashleigh Holloway Best on May 17.

The case was scheduled for a preliminary hearing Thursday, but prosecutors instead offered a potential plea deal to Drew, Utah County deputy attorney Jared Perkins confirmed.

Drew will return to court Nov. 1 to decide whether he will accept the agreement. Otherwise, a preliminary hearing is set for Nov. 28.

According to police, Drew, an employee of On Demand Repos, was attempting to repossess Best's 2002 Lincoln Navigator but had agreed to wait while she and her husband looked into updating their payment plan. While he waited, Best hopped in the car and took off.

Security footage from a neighbor's home showed Drew take off in an aggressive pursuit, according to police. The chase continued for about 12 blocks through the couple's Pleasant Grove neighborhood until Best's car hopped the curb — allegedly forced over as Drew's tow truck maintained contact with the car along its side — and slammed into a tree.

Drew initially claimed that Best had sped ahead of him on the right, fishtailed and crashed, according to police. However, his explanation didn't hold up as the accident was reconstructed.

When confronted with the evidence, prosecutors say Drew "conceded that he may have been using his truck to try to stop Mrs. Best, to try to bring the whole thing to an end. He also backtracked on his first account and said that he did not really remember details about how the crash happened," charges state.

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McKenzie Romero

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