Mother of Grosse Pointe teen charged in fatal crash won't face charges
(CBS DETROIT) — The mother of a Grosse Pointe teen charged with second-degree murder in a fatal crash that killed another teen will not face charges, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office said Tuesday.
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.
In July, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office received a letter from Mackrell's mother requesting that Tague's mother be charged, alleging that she was negligent regarding her son's driving. At the time, Mackrell's parents compared the case to the Oxford High School shooter, Ethan Crumbley, and his parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, who became the first parents in the U.S. to be held responsible for their child's actions in a school shooting.
In August, police released a new video showing the teen behind the wheel, driving at almost 140 miles per hour. CBS News Detroit obtained the shocking video along with a detailed report that shows police responded to multiple calls about the teen's alleged violence and speeding. Those police records show Tague's mother was concerned about her son's driving.
Prosecutors received a warrant request in August, reviewed records and were presented with evidence from 2018 to 2023.
In its decision to deny the warrant request, the prosecutor's office said the teen's mother "has consistently taken reasonable measures to assert parental control over her son over the years as it relates to his general behavior and his driving leading up to the fatal car crash."
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy issued the following statement regarding her decision:
"We have spent a significant amount of time discussing this case and have looked at all of the applicable law. We looked at police reports and other documents. We are confident that the facts and evidence will prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the juvenile respondent committed the offenses that we have charged.
"Parenting is hard in the best of circumstances. 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. We will not be more specific about her actions because her son will be facing trial in February.
"She 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."
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.
Tague has a settlement conference on Jan. 8 and will go to trial on Feb. 3.
