Guilty plea entered in fatal crash

Michael Moser, Crossville Chronicle, Tenn.
·2 min read
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Apr. 27—The social media platform of Snapchat provided crucial evidence in the vehicle homicide case against Karly Makenzie Reph, 29.

Authorities said Reph was behind the wheel of a 2002 Oldsmobile AG that crashed on a Fairfield Glade street on July 27, 2019, killing a passenger.

Reph pleaded guilty to the indictment last week that includes as condition a sentencing hearing on June 21 at which time Criminal Court Judge Wesley Bray will determine the manner in which that sentence will be served.

In exchange for her plea, Reph agreed to a three-year sentence and loss of driving privileges for five years.

State law, however, establishes the range of sentencing for a plea to vehicular homicide at three to six years.

Based on the law, Assistant District Attorney Philip Hatch told the judge that the state's hands were basically tied by sentencing guidelines. With a range of 3-6 years and no previous record, sentencing would most likely fall on the three years. Other than the crime itself, there are little or no mitigating factors to be considered.

Options for the judge to consider is how those three years will be served. The judge could find three years of incarceration applicable, a split sentence of some amount of time to serve followed by supervised probation, or supervised probation.

Hatch noted that Reph, since the fatal crash, has become a mother and has had no further incidents with law enforcement. Under those set of facts, it would have been hard for the state to press for more than the three-year sentence.

In laying out a statement of facts that would have supported a finding of guilt, Hatch said Reph had three passengers in her vehicle when driving on Lakeview Dr. The Snapchat video shows those in the car urging Reph to drive faster and run a stop sign moments before the crash. The young people in the car — ages 19 to 25 at the time of the crash — were "jumping hills" at speeds too high for road conditions when Reph lost control on a curve.

The vehicle left the roadway, struck a utility pole and slammed into a tree. The crash left Jeremiah K. Hood, 19, dead. Seriously injured were Kyle B. Perry, 23, and Skylar M. Lewis, 19. All are from the Crossville area.

Crossville defense attorney Kevin Bryant is representing Reph.

Michael Moser may be reached at mmoser@crossville-chronicle.com