A man charged with several crimes following a deadly crash on Lovers Lane entered a guilty plea Friday, avoiding a trial that was to have begun this week.

Ryan Bagwell, 32, of White House, Tennessee, pleaded guilty to charges of vehicular homicide, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence (fourth offense), tampering with physical evidence and first-degree possession of a controlled substance, Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Kori Beck Bumgarner said in a text message.

Bagwell was the driver of a truck that crashed into a car driven by Ashley C. Porter on the morning of July 24, 2024, in the 300 block of Lovers Lane.

Porter, 40, of Bowling Green, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Bumgarner said that Bagwell accepted a plea agreement that recommends a 30-year prison sentence.

Bagwell’s case was scheduled to go to a jury trial on Tuesday, and trial preparations were ongoing in the days leading up to the guilty plea taken by Warren Circuit Judge John Grise, with two hearings in the past week to address various pretrial motions filed by Bumgarner and Bagwell’s attorney, Alan Simpson.

The vehicular homicide count to which Bagwell pleaded guilty was amended down from a charge of murder, which carried a penalty range of 20-50 years in prison or life with no chance at parole for 20 years.

The drug possession charge was also amended down from an original count of first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance, and stemmed from police finding a quantity of methamphetamine in Bagwell’s possession.

According to court records, Bagwell was taken to an area hospital for treatment in the aftermath of the crash and gave a statement to Bowling Green Police Department officers in which he said he traveled from his home in Tennessee to Bowling Green to collect money for a job.

“(Bagwell) stated that (Porter) crossed into his lane and he attempted to swerve out of the way, but the evidence shows that the collision occurred in her lane of travel,” BGPD Detective Matthew Poore said while testifying at a 2024 preliminary hearing in Warren District Court.

Poore testified at that same hearing that Bagwell acknowledged smoking marijuana the night before the crash when police questioned him about whether he had used any substances or medications that would affect his driving.

Poore said that Bagwell had redness in his eyes and slow speech when he spoke with police, which law enforcement believed were indications of impairment.

A subsequent toxicology analysis of a blood sample taken from Bagwell hours after the crash showed the presence of five substances in his system, including methamphetamine, amphetamine and THC.

The plea agreement dismisses three drug trafficking counts as well as charges of first-degree criminal mischief, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Bagwell, who is in custody at Warren County Regional Jail, will return to court Feb. 24 for sentencing, Bumgarner said.