by
Kiernan Tague
On Nov. 13, 2023, Kiernan Tague, 16, was speeding in Grosse Pointe Farms, going 105 m.p.h. in a BMW when his car crashed into a pole and then a tree. He survived, but his friend, Flynn Mackrell, 18, who was a passenger, died.
On Friday, Judge Michael McClory of the Wayne County Circuit Court Juvenile Section of the Family Division issued a sentence that keeps Tague, now 18, out of adult prison. He had the option of sentencing him as an adult after he pled guilty to manslaughter with a motor vehicle.
Instead, McClory ordered him into a juvenile placement in a Level 2 facility, which is a residential facility. The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office said in a press release that the "duration of placement is determined by progress in treatment."
After completing his treatment, he'll be free on probation. If he violates probation, he will receive 19 to 38 months in adult prison, the Detroit Free Press reports.
The victim's family was angered by what they saw as a lenient punishment. They had fought for a tougher sentence.
"The only thing that could have made our lives worse is what happened here today," Anne Vanker, the mother, said, according to Tresa Baldas of the Detroit Free Press.
