Manslaughter guilty plea; accused of running over boyfriend

Published 9:30 pm Wednesday, September 6, 2017

PURVIS (AP) — A 41-year-old Mississippi woman accused of running over her 71-year-old boyfriend has pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Carrie Lea Reynolds was charged with second-degree murder of William Foster, but a trial in May ended with a hung jury.

Reynolds, of Hattiesburg, entered her plea Wednesday morning at the Lamar County Courthouse in Purvis, and Judge Anthony Mozingo imposed a suspended 15-year sentence, with five years of post-release supervision, The Hattiesburg American reported. She had been free on bond.

Prosecutors recommended the sentence based on the wishes of Foster’s family.

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According to Reynolds’ videotaped police interview, Foster turned the engine off during a fight while she was driving on Interstate 59, and tried to pull her out after she pulled to the shoulder and stopped. She said she drove off while he was trying to smash a window, and he fell but stood up again. She said she also called him, and he seemed OK. He died three days later from a broken skull and bleeding on the brain.