MUTLNOMAH COUNTY, Ore. (KPTV) - A teenager involved in a deadly UTV crash on Sauvie Island earlier this year has changed his plea.

Ayden Heard, 18, changed his plea following a settlement conference on Wednesday.

Heard pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide, which was reduced from an original manslaughter charge. He also originally faced a driving under the influence charge but that was dropped with his plea change.

The charges stem from a UTV crash that happened on May 18 on NW Gillihan Road on Sauvie Island.

Seventeen-year-old Ava Crews, a student at Scappoose High School, died in the crash.

According to Crews’ family, the school board vice chair, Branda Jurasek, and her husband own a home on the street where the crash happened. They claim that before the crash, a group o

See Full Page