Prosecutors Say The Michigan Mother Of A Teen Charged With Second-Degree Murder Following A Fatal Crash Will Not Face Charges
Kiernan Tague, who was 16 at the time of the crash, was charged in March with second-degree murder for the Nov. 13, 2023, crash that claimed the life of this 18-year-old friend, Flynn Mackrell. Police say Tague was driving over 100 miles per hour on a residential street in Grosse Pointe Farms where the speed limit was 25 mph when he lost control and struck a utility pole and tree.
Mackrell’s mother, Anne Vanker, requested the teen driver’s mother be charged, citing the case of convicted Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley and his parents, who were the first parents in United States history to be held responsible for a school shooting committed by their child.
But Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said on Dec. 10 that a panel of assistant prosecutors determined the mother “was not directly or indirectly involved in any way in the offenses for which we have charged her son.”
“Parenting is hard in the best of circumstances,” Worthy said in a statement. “Most parents do everything they can to mentor their children and steer them in the right direction. The juvenile respondent’s mother was no different. She took consistent, active steps to try to make sure that he stayed on the right path.”
“There will be those that say she should have done more, but we have looked at all of the facts and those facts dictate no criminal charges here,” Worthy said. “We will not be more specific about her actions because her son will be facing trial in February. (The defendant’s mother) was not directly or indirectly involved in any way in the offenses for which we have charged her son. Despite his mother’s attempts, it is our firm position that the respondent and the respondent only is directly responsible for the crimes that we have adult designated and charged him with.”
MacKrell’s mother Anne Vanker told The News she thought there was enough evidence to prove the driver’s mother knew he was reckless because a Grosse Pointe Farms police report showed the woman had monitored her son’s driving habits via the Life 360 app that allows parents to view their kids’ driving speed, hard braking and other activity.
Mackrell’s mother previously told the paper that she believed the teen driver’s parents could have done something to prevent the crash that killed her son.
MacKrell’s parents said he was picked up by a 16-year-old friend who was driving his mother’s white 2021 BMW X3. They were going to surprise another friend in Grosse Pointe Farms. Afterward, the driver sped over 100 mph while heading southwest on Ridge Road, officials said. That stretch of the road has a 25 mph speed limit.
He lost control of the SUV, struck a utility pole, went airborne, and then hit a tree, witnesses said. They reported that the SUV was moving “at a very high rate of speed.”
“The vehicle was traveling at such a high rate of speed that the engine, transmission, front axle, and passenger compartment all separated from each other and scattered all over the roadway,” the police report says.
Vanker called the announcement “a weak decision.”
“The wounds never close, and I’m disappointed,” Vanker said. “When your child is skipping school or smoking pot, a parent maybe can’t control that. But she knew her son was driving more than 100 mph because of the Life 360 app; that was right in the police report. She didn’t try to control his behavior. And she provided him with the murder weapon, which was the car, knowing he was an aggressive driver.
“I know Kym Worthy does the best she can, and her office gets a lot of cases,” Vanker said. “But this was a missed opportunity. So many kids are killed in car accidents every year, and parents keep giving them the keys to these cars, knowing how crazy they drive. This was a chance to hold parents accountable. Now, my son is dead, and my family is destroyed.”
Tague is not being charged as an adult but is adult-designated, meaning if convicted, a judge can sentence him as a juvenile or as an adult or blended sentence with the option of imposing an adult sentence if Tague is not rehabilitated.
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