2017 Interstate 75 rock-throwing deaths
Rock and sandbag throwing from highway overpasses by teenagers along Interstate 75 caused two deaths in separate incidents in 2017: one in Michigan and one in Ohio.
Michigan rock throwing death
Kenneth White, 32, was killed on October 18, 2017, when a 6-pound rock thrown by a group of five teenage vandals crashed through the windshield of the van he was riding in on Interstate 75 in Michigan, in Vienna Township, 80 miles north of Detroit. Other cars were also damaged by rocks a group of four boys were throwing.[1]
Incident
The teenagers confessed to having thrown multiple rocks at cars driving south on I-75 from their position on the Dodge Road overpass in Vienna Township.[2] The five hooligans had gathered large rocks, one weighing 20 pounds (9.1 kg), from a dead-end street in Vienna Township, loading them into the flatbed of a pickup truck, before driving to the overpass where they were dropped onto cars as they passed below.[3][4]
Victim
The victim, Kenneth White, 32, was seated in the passenger seat. He left a fiancée and four children.[5] White, a construction worker, was riding with a co-worker.[6]
Trial and convictions
The teenagers throwing rocks that night were arrested and charged with second-degree murder.[7][2]
Four of the five teenagers, all from the Clio, Michigan area, who were part of the group throwing rocks at cars driving on Interstate 75 that night accepted plea deals to a reduced charge of manslaughter. They are Mark Sekelsky, 16; Trevor Gray, 15; Alexzander Miller, 15; and Mikadkyn Payne, 16. The fifth is Kyle Anger, 18, who the group revealed as the individual who threw the rock that killed White. His charge has remained at second-degree murder.[4][8]
Anger pled guilty to murder in the second degree.[9][2]
Ohio rock-throwing death
Marquise Byrd, 26, a resident of Warren, Michigan, was killed on Interstate 75 near Toledo, Ohio when four teenagers dropped a sandbag from a bridge onto the car in which he was a passenger.[1][10]
The boys were crossing the highway on a bridge when they noticed rocks lying on the bridge and decided to throw them at passing cars; they also threw two sandbags, running away when the second sandbag made a loud sound as it hit a vehicle.[11][12]
Press reports compared Byrd's death to the death of Kenneth White two months earlier on the same interstate highway.[13][8][14][15]
Victim
Byrd was soon to be married to the mother of his 2-year-old son.[14][16][17]
Legal proceedings
The judge in the case, Denise Navarre Cubbon, initially sentenced the four culprits to serve time at the Department of Youth Services, sentencing Carter, Parker, and Wimberly (14 at the time of the killing) to serve terms of four years, and Salinas (13 at the time of the killing) to serve until he turned 21. However, she suspended those sentences in favor of brief terms in the Lucas County Youth Treatment Center in the hope that clemency would prepare them to go on to lead productive lives.[11][12][16][16]
Impact
As a result of this crime, fencing was installed along the overpass from which the sandbag was thrown to prevent future attacks.[18][19]
As a result of this crime, Ohio began to require fencing on highway overpasses to prevent deaths and injuries caused by youths throwing rocks at vehicles.[15][20]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Johnson, Alex (December 26, 2017). "Ohio teens charged with murder after sandbag thrown from bridge hits car, kills passenger". NBC News. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Gebel, Meira (October 29, 2018). "Teens plead guilty in rock-throwing death on I-75". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
- ↑ Adams, Dominic (May 21, 2018). "With DNA results back, exam date set in fatal I-75 rock-throwing case". MLive. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Martindale, Mark (July 16, 2018). "4 of 5 teens accept plea deal in I-75 rock-throwing death". The Detroit News. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
- ↑ Moghe, Sonia; Casarez, Jean (November 2, 2017). "Michigan highway rock shatters more than one life". CNN. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
- ↑ "Teens accused of tossing rocks from overpass, killing construction worker". Fox News. October 20, 2017. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
- ↑ "Teen pleads guilty in fatal freeway rock-throwing case Four other teens were charged in the incident that killed a man in Michigan". NBC News. Associated Press. October 27, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Harris, Chris (July 17, 2018). "Teens Plead Guilty in Death of Mich. Dad Killed by Rock Thrown from Overpass onto Vehicle". People. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
- ↑ "Teen pleads guilty in fatal freeway rock-throwing case". NBC News. AP. 27 October 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
- ↑ Gearty, Robert (April 7, 2018). "'Madness': Family outraged that 4 teens sentenced to youth treatment after sandbag hits car, kills man". Fox News. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Magness, Josh (April 7, 2018). "'What madness is this?' Ohio teens killed man with sandbag — but don't get jail time". Miami Herald. McClatchy.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Osborn, Mark (April 7, 2018). "Ohio teens given suspended sentence for dropping sandbag off overpass that killed man". ABC News. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
- ↑ "Teens who threw sandbag from overpass sentenced in car passenger's death". CBS News. April 9, 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Teens Charged With Murder After Man Is Killed By Sandbag They Allegedly Threw From Overpass". Inside Edition. December 27, 2017. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Ohio to require overpass fencing after sandbag causes deadly crash". CBS News. January 8, 2018. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Chavez, Nicole (April 8, 2018). "4 teens who dropped sandbag on car, killing man, ordered to youth facility". CNN. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
- ↑ Zilber, Ariel (December 30, 2017). "Young father, 22, planned to propose to girlfriend on his birthday before being killed by teens who dropped sandbag on his car". Weekly Challenger. Archived from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
- ↑ Dunn, Ryan (January 31, 2018). "Fencing installed at I-75 bridge where sandbag was tossed, killed man". The Blade. Toledo, Ohio. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
- ↑ Johnson, Chuck; Moskowitz, Jessica (December 28, 2017). "Boys charged with murder after sandbag from overpass kills man". CNN. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
- ↑ "Ohio to require overpass fencing after sandbag hits car, kills Mich. man". Detroit: WJBK-TV. January 8, 2018. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
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