Woman behind fatal crash released

A woman whose uncle was killed after she crashed her SUV in Chula Vista while evading U.S. Border Patrol agents was released from jail Jan. 7 after she received credit for time served.

Kyleigh Marsay Polite, 30, admitted to causing the death of her uncle, Larry Dean Passmore, 54, on April 25, 2019 when she pleaded guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter.
Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Francis Devaney placed Polite on terms of three years probation and imposed a one year in jail on Jan. 6. The sheriff’s department determined the next day to release her as she accumulated 8 1/2 months jail credits.

Passmore was in the front passenger seat in the silver 2003 Acura after she allegedly picked up three undocumented persons around 7 a.m. on Alto Road in Otay Mesa. U.S. Border Patrol agents attempted to pull her over, but she sped off at 85-100 m.p.h on State Route 125.

Four minutes after the pursuit began, Polite lost control of the SUV, and it overturned, killing Passmore, who was ejected from the vehicle.

Deputy District Attorney Jerry Wendricks asked the judge to impose a 6-year prison term. The probation department recommended a 4-year prison term. Her attorney, Hannah Kuhami, asked for a lesser sentence.

A murder charge was dismissed against Polite after she pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter. She pleaded guilty without having a preliminary hearing. The medical examiner’s office said Passmore died from blunt force trauma.

The three people she picked up were also ejected from the vehicle as they were not wearing seat belts, said Wendricks. They were hospitalized as was Polite.

The vehicle skidded out of control, overturned, and rolled side over side several times near the Olympic Parkway exit in Chula Vista.