Marlton man pleads guilty to Mt. Laurel crash that killed restaurant owner

🔵 A Marlton man faces 13 years in prison in a plea deal after a deadly DWI crash

🔵 Glenn Keen was killed while leaving Cucina Carini, the Mt. Laurel restaurant he owned

🔵 Desmond Newberry previously was busted for drunk driving, twice, he said in court

MOUNT LAUREL — A Marlton man has admitted to causing a high-speed crash that killed a restaurant owner who was leaving his own business over five months ago.

Desmond Newberry pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated manslaughter, stemming from the September death of 52-year-old Glenn Keen, Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia Bradshaw announced Friday.

Under a plea deal, the 45-year-old Newberry would face a 13-year prison sentence and would have to serve 85% of it before becoming eligible for parole.

While in Burlington County Superior Court on Thursday, Newberry confirmed that he had pleaded guilty to drunk driving, twice before.

Newberry’s BMW was speeding over 120 miles per hour just before hitting Keen’s Ford SUV the night of Sept. 3, according to the vehicle's data recorder.

Keen was pulled from his burning vehicle by civilians before police arrived, Bradshaw said.

The Labor Day weekend crash happened in the 1300 block of Hainesport-Mount Laurel Road — the restaurant is across the street from a township elementary school.

Keen was airlifted to Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, where he died that night.

Newberry was treated for non-life threatening injuries at Cooper University Hospital in Camden.

His sentencing has been set for April 19.

Glenn Keen and his wife, Paula, had opened the restaurant together in 1995 — the same year they got married, according to his obituary.

Erin Vogt is a reporter and anchor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach her at erin.vogt@townsquaremedia.com

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