Man sentenced to prison after recording shows abuse of girlfriend before her suicide

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Caleb Rees sentenced to between zero and 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to reckless manslaughter in Rena Nguyen's Oct. 2021 death.
• Judge Petersen found Rees' actions disturbing and said he has concerns he is a risk to the public, while Rees' attorneys claim he has changed.
• Nguyen's parents spoke about her potential, and the impact of her loss.

PROVO — An Orem man will spend time in prison after admitting that his reckless actions led to the death of his girlfriend, 20-year-old Rena Nguyen, who died by suicide.

Those actions, prosecutors say, include demeaning statements and allowing her to be in the home with guns and drugs while she was having a mental health crisis — specifically placing a gun in her line of sight. They played a recording of a heated conversation between the two at the sentencing.

Fourth District Judge Sean Petersen said the recording played in the sentencing was "nothing short of horrific" and was hard for him to listen to. He said this case was different than many of the others he has considered.

"This is a case that I frankly find disturbing on many levels," he said, "it is not normal or accepted behavior."

The judge told Caleb Rees that it is "unnerving" that he would treat someone like that, and expressed concerns for public safety and his future relationships.

"A young woman with all the promise in the world died in part from your reckless actions and indifference," he told Rees before sentencing him to prison.

Rees, 31, was sentenced to four terms of zero to five years in prison for reckless manslaughter, two counts of possession of a firearm as a restricted person and drug possession with intent to distribute, all third-degree felonies. Petersen followed an agreement in the plea to recommend running the sentences consecutively, and gave him credit for the almost two years he had already spent in jail in the case.

Rena died on Oct. 1, 2021, but Rees was not charged until August of 2024.

'Escalating, intentional cruelty'

"Our daughter Rena should still be alive. Rena should be building her future. Instead, we are here to speak for Rena because Rena's voice was taken as a result of the defendant's deliberate and sustained abuse," Rose Nguyen, Rena's mother, said at the sentencing.

The death has impacted each part of their family's lives, she said, as they consider what Rena will never get to experience.

Rena's father said he wants to remember her as someone who was "bright, kind, joyful and full of promise."

"Knowing she spent her final moments terrified and alone is a pain I will carry forever," he said.

He said Rees' sentence should "reflect the gravity of what was taken" from both Rena and their family, noting his constant grief.

Rose Nguyen claimed Rees' actions were "a pattern of escalating, intentional cruelty."

"In those final moments of her life, our daughter was not heard, she was not protected, she was not saved," Rose Nguyen said.

Their attorney, Richard Lambert, said this case is unique in the United States, but is similar to a recent case in Scotland where a husband was convicted by a jury after his wife took her own life. He also said, however, that several thousand women take their lives as a result of abuse each year in the United States — why this case landed in court, like the one in Scotland, is that recordings were available. In this case, it was a 14-hour audio recording.

Deputy Utah County attorney Charlotte Howard said this case "is about all forms of domestic violence," encouraging consecutive sentences. She said Rena Nguyen continued to seek help and report the abuse to family and friends.

In the recording played in court, she said Rena Nguyen is "clearly distressed" and that Rees is culpable for her death because of the fear and pressure he put on her.

"He characterized Rena's last moments of grief and despair, compounded by his words of belittlement, as an unfortunate circumstance. That he simply left his firearm out and that is why she died — this is so much more than that," she said.

'Ashamed and embarrassed'

Rees said that day will haunt him for the rest of his life. He said he loved Rena Nguyen and couldn't imagine the pain her family feels. He claimed he could not imagine her taking her own life and did not wish her harm.

"I'm completely ashamed and embarrassed for the way that I spoke to Rena," he said. "I will never again make the mistakes that I made on that day."

Rees pleaded guilty in April in a plea deal that reduced the manslaughter charge and the charge for possession of a controlled substance from second to third-degree felonies and dismissed four charges for possession of a firearm and one charge for possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, third-degree felonies.

Rees' attorney, Alex Muir, said he accepts his role in the "tragedy." He said Rees told his girlfriend to leave the home because of the weapons in the home, and moved a handgun near the door out of concern for her before leaving the room. The attorney claimed Rees called 911 immediately and tried to help her while waiting for paramedics.

He argued for a sentence of jail and probation, saying the recommendation from Adult Probation and Parole was between 75 and 210 days in jail prior to probation, and Rees had spent more than six times that behind bars. He argued that more incarceration would not help fulfill the goals of a sentence.

Muir said his client has grown up and changed during the five years since the death, including three years before he was charged and two after.

Domestic violence resources

Help for people in abusive relationships can be found by contacting:

• Utah Domestic Violence Coalition: Utah's confidential statewide, 24-hour domestic violence hotline at 1-800-897-LINK (5465)
• YWCA Utah Survivor Services: 801-537-8600
• Utah's statewide child abuse and neglect hotline: 1-855-323-DCFS (3237)
• National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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Emily Ashcraft

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Emily Ashcraft is a reporter for KSL. She covers issues in state courts, health and religion. In her spare time, Emily enjoys crafting, cycling and raising chickens.