An Anchorage woman who drove away in her SUV after hitting a pedestrian in 2011, killing him, will be sentenced to one year behind bars on Monday if a judge accepts the terms of a plea deal.
Prosecutors made the deal in July with Ashley Bashore, 20, who agreed to plead guilty to criminally negligent homicide and failing to help an injured person. The plea agreement recommends a sentence of three years with two suspended, as well as six years of probation to follow the jail time.
Hubert Tunuchuk, a 28-year-old in town from the village of Chefornak to study power plant operations, was walking on the edge of Tudor Road on a bridge over the Seward Highway, the charges said. It was early the morning of Easter Sunday 2011.
Bashore struck Tunuchuk, who was knocked out of his shoes, and drove away, according to the charges. Bashore was sending text messages on her iPhone before the collision, according to paperwork filed in court by prosecutors. Police said a witness thought Bashore, 19 at the time, smelled like marijuana. She allegedly told a friend she'd struck a dog.
According to the sentencing recommendations in the plea agreement, Bashore will undergo an assessment by a drug and alcohol-abuse counselor and must complete a treatment program if the counselor recommends one. She is also barred from owning a cell phone that can send text messages without the approval of her probation officer.
Bashore is scheduled to be sentenced Monday morning in Anchorage Superior Court.
Reach Casey Grove at casey.grove@adn.com or 257-4589.
By CASEY GROVE