Grosse Pointe teen enters guilty plea as juvenile in 100 MPH fatal crash that killed passenger
The Brief
The driver in a fatal crash that killed an 18-year-old in Grosse Pointe Farms in 2023 has entered a guilty plea, charged as a juvenile.
The now 17-year-old driver who was going 100 miles per hour in a 25 MPH zone has been given an adult designation.
The adult designation allows the judge to sentence the defendant as a juvenile, or as an adult, or create a blended sentence with the option of imposing an adult sentence of there is no rehabilitation.
FOX 2 - A Grosse Pointe teen charged in the fatal crash that killed his 18-year-old friend, has entered a guilty plea Friday.
The driver, now 17, is not being charged as an adult, but has been adult designated, allowing the judge to be flexible in giving the sentence.
The backstory
The crash killed Grosse Pointe resident Flynn Mackrell on Nov. 17, 2023 in Grosse Pointe Farms. A police report had the 2021 BMW X3 going 100-plus miles an hour in a 25 MPH zone when the teen driver hit a lamp post with the vehicle, it flew in the air, flipped, and hit a tree.
The driver was found belted behind the wheel, and the victim, Mackrell, unresponsive, belted into the passenger seat at the crash site in the area of Ridge and Moran roads.
The juvenile entered a guilty plea to manslaughter with a motor vehicle with an adult designation. He will be sentenced on June 6, 2025, at 9 a.m., before Judge Michael McClorey.
The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office said that the adult designation allows the judge to have the option of sentencing the defendant as a juvenile, or as an adult, or to fashion a blended juvenile sentence with the option of imposing an adult sentence if the juvenile is not rehabilitated.
The suspect had been charged as an adult with second-degree murder.
Related:
Mother of Grosse Pointe teen killed in high-speed crash wants driver's parents charged
Mom of Grosse Pointe teen won't be charged after high-speed crash that killed 18-year-old
There was a push from Mackrell's family to have the driver's parents charged. Worthy explored that option deciding against filing charges due to lack of evidence. She added thatthe teen's mom tried to curb her son's behavior.
The Source
Information for this story was taken from a release by the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, the police report, and the family of Flynn Mackrell.
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