Grosse Pointe mother reportedly faces charges after car crash that killed teenager

GROSSE POINTE FARMS, MI — A mother who lost her son in a high-speed crash in Grosse Pointe Farms last year wants to sue the driver's mother in connection with his death, according to news reports.

According to police, 18-year-old Flynn Mackrell of Grosse Pointe was killed when a speeding BMW X3 crashed into a light pole in the area of ​​Ridge and Moran Road at around 9 p.m. on November 17, 2023.

According to police, officers found Mackrell dead, strapped into the passenger seat of the car, and 16-year-old Kiernan Tague was strapped into the driver's seat.

Tague was injured in the accident and taken to a nearby hospital where the teenager recovered from his injuries, police said.

Police said Tague was Driving over 100 miles per hour in a residential area where the speed limit is 25 miles per hourbefore he lost control of the car, drove off the road and crashed into a power pole and a tree.

Tague has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the accident. The teen was not charged as an adult but was given a “grown-up” rating, meaning a judge has the option to try the teen as a juvenile or adult if he is found guilty of that charge.

He was released from prison on bail and is still awaiting a trial date.

If convicted, he faces a life sentence in prison.

Mackrell's mother, Anne Vanker, says Tague's mother must also be held accountable after investigators found text messages in which she warned her son, “Slow the hell down now,” according to a report in the Detroit Free Press.

“I have screenshots of you driving 90 mph in the middle of the night when I didn't even know you,” the text messages read, according to the outlet. “And again two weeks ago when you were driving 123 mph, just like that.”

Vanker told Fox 2 Detroit that the text messages show that Tague's mother never took appropriate steps to stop her child from driving, even though she knew how recklessly he was driving.

Vanker linked the case to the Oxford School shooting, in which parents were held criminally liable for their son's actions that resulted in the death of others. She believes that precedent also applies to the accident that killed her son, according to the news channel.

As of Tuesday, no charges had been filed against Tague's mother in connection with the accident.

No further charges have been filed in this case.