A Kearns man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the shooting death of his friend, who had claimed moments earlier that he could dodge a bullet. Ashton Mann admitted to recklessly firing a gun and causing the death of 23-year-old Dylan Lee Treichel inside a garage in February 2025, bringing a tragic end to a night that began with the two men playing video games together.
Mann, now 25, pleaded guilty to second-degree felony manslaughter, according to KSL News. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dismissed a separate charge of possession of a gun by a restricted person, a third-degree felony. Mann also waived his right to be sentenced within 45 days of entering his guilty plea, and he is now set to be sentenced on Jan. 11, 2027.
The dossier notes a discrepancy in Mann's age: the plea report lists him as 25, while earlier charging documents from 2025 identified him as 23 at the time of the shooting.
A Night That Turned Deadly in the Garage
According to charging documents cited by KSL.com, Mann told investigators that he and Treichel, who lived together, had been playing a video game in the living room before heading to the garage to handle their guns. It was there, the documents state, that Treichel told Mann he could “dodge” a bullet.
Mann said he dry-fired his 9mm handgun six or seven times before a round finally discharged, per the same charging documents. He told investigators he was holding the gun sideways and was not aiming at anything in particular when it went off. After the shot, Mann said he was in such shock that he continued racking the gun.
Police responded to the Kearns home on Feb. 2, 2025, and found Treichel on the garage floor with a gunshot wound to his chest, the charging documents state. Mann called 911 and attempted to render aid to his friend before officers arrived, the documents note.
Comparing a Recent Case With a Similar Outcome
Mann's case echoes another recent Utah manslaughter prosecution involving a fatal, accidental shooting between friends. Malachi Robles, 19, pleaded guilty earlier this year to a reduced third-degree felony manslaughter charge, along with dangerous-weapon conduct and drug possession, after accidentally shooting and killing a friend, according to KSL.com's report on that case. Robles was ultimately sentenced to a year of home confinement and three years of probation rather than prison time, with 200 hours of community service and mental-health and substance-abuse evaluations also ordered as conditions of his probation.
Whether Mann's sentence will follow a similar path remains to be seen. No sentence has yet been determined in his case, and it is scheduled to be decided at the January hearing.
