Christiansburg teen enters plea in crash that killed his girlfriend

By Rachel Lucas – Weekend Anchor / Reporter, Jeff Williamson – Digital Content Manager

CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. – A Christiansburg teen was driving more than twice the speed limit right before the July 2018 crash that killed his girlfriend and sent him to the hospital.

On Thursday, he pleaded no contest to all three charges — involuntary manslaughter, driving without a license and reckless driving.

Because he is being charged as a juvenile, 10 News has decided to not name him.

On July 22, the young man and his girlfriend, Ashlyn Poole, 16, left her house at about 10:45 p.m. to go to a friend’s house.

By 11:15 p.m., when Ashlyn’s parents did not receive a text from her that she had arrived, they also texted the young man and then went to go look for her. They they discovered the crash site on Mudpike Road.

Ten minutes earlier, a 911 call was received about a crash at 1922 Mudpike Road in Montgomery County. Deputies from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and rescue personnel responded to the scene.

Poole and her boyfriend were in the overturned 2015 Ford Focus.

Ashlyn was already dead and partially ejected, while the young man was in the driver’s seat.

He was transported to Carilion NRV Medical Center and later Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.

The Crash Team was called to the scene and started its investigation.

Evidence at the scene indicated the car went off the right side of the two-lane road at an uphill left-hand curve.

Data from the car’s Crash Data Retrieval System, obtained by search warrants, showed the Focus was going 86.1 mph 5 seconds before the crash. The speed limit for that stretch of road is 40 mph.

The young man was released from the hospital five days after the crash.

 At the time of the crash, he only had a learner’s permit, which required him to drive with a licensed driver over the age of 21.

The teens next court date is April, 18. The court will now do an investigation into the teens social history before the judge rules on a sentence.