Man Gets Kidney Of Best Friend Killed In Vehicular Homicide

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, PA - The family of a man killed in a vehicular homicide over the weekend donated one of his kidneys to his best friend.

Andrew Dietz, 27, is recovering from the transplant at UPMC Montefiore. He received the kidney from Ryan Minett, 28, of New Brighton, who died Saturday, a day after being thrown from the luggage rack of his girlfriend’s SUV in Cranberry to which he had been clinging.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Minett’s family decided to donate the kidney to Dietz after Minett succumbed to injuries he suffered after being thrown against a light post.The Minett family could not immediately be reached for comment by Patch Monday.

Police said Minett had clung to the luggage rack as Jessica Royall, 28, of Boardwalk Drive in Cranberry, drove through residential streets of the township for a half-mile. Royall told police she and Minett had been arguing prior to the fatal incident at the intersection of Cross Creek Drive and Little Pine Road.

Royall told police that Minett confronted her in her driveway and held onto the vehicle while she drove away. She said she stopped the vehicle numerous times to allow him to let go but he did not.

Royall was charged with felony assault and drunken driving. Cranberry Police Chief Kevin Meyer told the Post-Gazette that she will be charged with homicide Monday morning.

Feature photo via Shutterstock; Cross Creek Drive photo via Google.