Teen Party Host Pleads Guilty To Alcohol Charges After Fatal Crash
HUDSONVILLE (WWJ/AP) - An 18-year-old who hosted a party at his apartment before a crash on a West Michigan expressway that left two young people dead faces up to 30 days in jail after pleading guilty in the case.
Shane Harlan entered the plea Wednesday in District Court in Hudsonville to a misdemeanor of allowing minors to consume alcohol. Sentencing is July 12.
Harlan has said he hosted the party in Ottawa County's Allendale Township but denied providing alcohol.
After the crash, Harlan told WMMT the plan was for everyone to spend the night, but six of his friends piled in a car and left. He said the loss of two friends has been hard to handle.
"I'm not too worried about any charges that are brought on me or any amount of money I face. It's a bigger picture to me. It sucks, it's the hardest time I've ever gone through losing my friends. I'd do anything I could to get them back, anything in the world to get my friends back," Harlan told WMMT reporters.
Takunda Mavima, the 17-year-old driver, faces charges including drunken driving causing death. Mavima waived his preliminary hearing last week in Wyoming, sending that case on to circuit court.
According to court documents, Mavima allegedly told police that he was driving too fast and drinking prior to the 4:20 a.m. crash on eastbound Ford Freeway near the off ramp to Chicago Drive.
Police in the Grand Rapids suburb of Wyoming say the May 20 crash killed 15-year-old Krysta Howell and 17-year-old Timothy See. The injured passengers were 18-year-olds Trenton Lampbright and Huy Nguyen and 16-year-old Dylan Stanaway. All involved attended Wyoming Park High School.
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