May 21, 2018 By The 2 min read

Nearly five years after a crash that took the life of a 19-year-old Acme woman, a Dunbar man pleaded guilty in her death.

Ethan Kenney, 23, pleaded guilty to accidents involving death or personal injury, homicide by vehicle and various traffic citations Monday in Fayette County Court in connection with the June 9, 2013, death of Catherine “Cat” Healy, 19, of Acme.

The plea was entered generally, meaning there is no specific deal in place.

Healy died from traumatic brain injuries following a crash on Ridge Boulevard in Dunbar Township. She was the passenger in Kenney’s vehicle. Kenney was charged in the case seven months later.

Police charged Kenney hit a guardrail, and then fled the scene after emergency medical personnel arrived, but before police arrived. He was located a short time later.

The matter had been set for trial in 2015, but a motion from Kenney’s attorney, Samuel Davis, halted proceedings.

Davis asked to inspect Kenney’s truck, and it was eventually determined the vehicle was sent to a scrapyard. That was after prosecutors at the time had the chance to inspect it, but before the defense did.

That resulted in the suppression of evidence relating to the inspection of the truck, prompting an appeal of the decision and additional court hearings over the ensuing years.

As part of the plea, prosecutors dismissed charges of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, driving under the influence and citations related to alleged drinking. Kenney will be sentenced at a later date.

Healy, who graduated from Connellsville Area High School in 2011, played volleyball at the school and was also a member of the volleyball team at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, where she was heading into her junior year.

After Healy’s death, regulation-size sand volleyball courts at Mountz Creek Park in Connellsville were opened and named “Cat’s Courts” in her honor.