WDIV – The parents of a Grosse Pointe teenager who was killed in a crash while his friend was driving 105 mph on a residential street want the driver’s mother to face charges.
Crash details
The crash happened around 9:05 p.m. Nov. 17, 2023, at Ridge and Moran roads in Grosse Pointe Farms.
Flynn Michael MacKrell, 18, of Grosse Pointe, returned home that day for Thanksgiving break during his freshman year at the University of Dayton.
MacKrell’s parents said he was picked up by a 16-year-old friend who was driving his mother’s white 2021 BMW X3. They were going to surprise another friend in Grosse Pointe Farms.
The 16-year-old driver is a Grosse Pointe resident and was a student at U of D Jesuit at that time.
Officials said the two met with their friend for about three minutes and then left his house around 9:03 p.m.
Afterward, the driver sped over 100 mph while heading southwest on Ridge Road, officials said. That stretch of the road has a 25 mph speed limit.
He lost control of the SUV, struck a utility pole, went airborne, and then hit a tree, witnesses said. They reported that the SUV was moving “at a very high rate of speed.”
“The vehicle was traveling at such a high rate of speed that the engine, transmission, front axle, and passenger compartment all separated from each other and scattered all over the roadway,” the police report says.
One of the witnesses who called 911 said he was inside his house when he “heard an engine rev up very clearly” and then heard the crash.
Another woman told police that she “heard a car going really fast” and then heard a crash.
Neither of those witnesses actually saw the crash.
Crash scene
Photographs taken at the crash scene show the SUV came to rest upside down next to a large tree.
“Arrived on location and found a single vehicle with significant damage to the front end resting on its roof,” the police report reads. “A large debris field was found around the vehicle, with a complete separation of the engine, transmission, front axle, and driver’s side A-pillar from the passenger compartment.”
Among the items collected at the scene were two cellphones and MacKrell’s wallet. The ID card in his wallet is how they confirmed his identity.
Extrication
Police said they learned from bystanders that two people were still trapped inside the SUV.
The driver was tangled up in the SUV’s wiring harnesses, hoses, and seatbelts, the police report says. The boy was extricated, and officers said he had injuries to his face, arm, and legs.
“(He) was initially able to take a step but collapsed,” the police report says. “(He) was dragged away from the vehicle, placed in the recovery position, and provided with first aid while waiting for Medstar.”
Police said the driver could answer basic questions at first, but his condition worsened. He was taken to St. John Hospital in Detroit for treatment.
MacKrell was trapped in the passenger seat of the overturned car, and officers said they noticed immediately that he didn’t have a pulse.
It took about 45 minutes to get him out of the wreckage. Officers said they had to completely remove the front passenger door during the process.
He was turned over to the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Search of cellphones
A judge signed a search warrant for the cellphones found at the crash scene, and police said they quickly identified which one belonged to the driver.
There were multiple notifications visible from the lock screen on the driver’s phone, including at least one from the “Life360″ app, which is primarily used for family members to see each other’s locations.
An officer said later in the police report that he was on bike patrol during the Thanksgiving Day parade when he learned that Life360 would have recorded the speed of travel at the time of the crash.
Friend talks to police
While going through the phones, police came across the number of the friend who the boys had gone to visit on MacKrell’s cellphone. They spoke to that friend about what happened.
Police learned that the three have been friends since they were on the Grosse Pointe city swim team together as children.
The friend said MacKrell and the 16-year-old arrived at his house around 9:03 p.m. and surprised him because MacKrell was home early from college.
After about three minutes, the other two left and the friend went back inside.
He said he learned about the crash when he received a phone call later that night. It was the driver’s mother, who said, “Oh my gosh, you’re OK. (Her son) was in a terrible accident and I thought it was you,” according to the police report.
Electronic crash data
Police said they got a search warrant for the BMW and went to the Pointe Towing lot on Nov. 22, 2023.
They pulled out the event data recorder, which records information from before and after crashes, such as speed, brake use, airbag deployment, and force of impact.
After a few failed attempts to image the EDR, officials eventually managed to download the crash data using a donor VIN, they said.
That data showed the accelerator pedal of the BMW was pushed down at 100% from 6.5 seconds before the crash until 4.5 seconds before the crash.
At 6.5 seconds before the crash, the car was going 89 mph, and at 4.5 seconds before the crash, it was going 101 mph, according to the police report.
The accelerator pedal eased to 55% four seconds before the crash while the car was going 104 mph, but then it dropped to 0% for the rest of the event, officials said.
“A top speed of 105 mph was recorded 3.5 seconds prior to impact,” the police report reads.
Driving habits
Police said they received a search warrant for Life360 on the driver’s phone to learn about his driving habits.
A search around the time of the crash on Nov. 17, 2023, showed that the car reached a speed of 101.519 mph, according to the police report. The car traveled .223 miles at or above that max speed, the records show.
Police said the driver had 94 recorded trips on the app between Nov. 1, 2023, and Nov. 17, 2023. His highest recorded speed was 153.71 mph on the evening of Nov. 1, 2023.
The driver went over 120 mph during 10 of his 94 trips, over 110 mph during 17 trips, over 100 mph during 25 trips, and over 90 mph during 43 trips, according to the records.
Officials said they found photos on the phone that showed a speedometer at the following speeds:
- 148 mph at 11:23 p.m. July 3, 2023.
- 127 mph at 11:14 p.m. July 3, 2023.
- 102 mph at 9:02 p.m. Aug. 16, 2023.
- 150 mph at 11:21 p.m. Aug. 21, 2023.
- 155 mph at 7:38 p.m. Aug. 26, 2023.
They also listed several videos that were found on the phone:
- Accelerating up to 63 mph in a 30 mph zone at 11:16 p.m. July 15, 2023.
- Accelerating up to 74 mph on a surface street at 9:41 p.m. July 16, 2023.
- Accelerating up to 78 mph in a 25 mph residential zone at 10:22 p.m. July 16, 2023.
- Reaching speeds of 137 mph in a 55 mph zone on I-94 at 10:22 p.m. July 16, 2023.
- Video of “reckless driving” at the MIllender Center on July 16, 2023.
- Reaching speeds of 114 mph in a 55 mph zone on I-75 at 9:25 p.m. Aug. 16, 2023.
- Video of “drag racing” at 7:08 p.m. Sept. 28, 2023.
- Video of a “burnout” in a Ford Bronco at 2:05 p.m. Oct. 5, 2023.
- Video of “drag racing” at 96 mph on a surface street at 11:40 p.m. Oct. 7, 2023.
- Accelerating up to 75 mph on a surface street at 12:11 a.m. Oct. 21, 2023.
You can see some of those videos here:
NOTE: All of these pictures and videos were listed on the police report.
Arrest and murder charge for driver
Wayne County prosecutors announced on March 20, 2024, that they were charging the driver with second-degree murder.
A detective went to the driver’s house at 3:12 p.m. that day and found the teen cleaning a silver Chevrolet Malibu in the driveway. He placed the teen in handcuffs.
Grosse Pointe Farms officials took him to the police department, and then the Wayne County Juvenile Detention Facility.
His second-degree murder charge comes with an adult designation. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s being charged as an adult. It means that if he’s convicted, the judge will have the ability to sentence him as a juvenile, as an adult, or as a juvenile with the option to impose an adult sentence if he’s not rehabilitated.
Bond was set at $10,000, cash/surety during a March 21, 2024, preliminary examination.
Jury trial scheduled
According to a letter from prosecutors to police, the teen driver waived his right to a preliminary examination and requested a jury trial.
That trial was scheduled to begin on Feb. 3, 2025.
Charges against mother?
Officials received a letter from Wayne County assistant Prosecutor Hervey Jenkins on Aug. 13, 2024. He was asking for an update on the police investigation into the driver’s mother.
“Members of my office received correspondence from the parents of Flynn MacKrell,” Jenkins wrote. “They are asking that my office review the investigator’s report submitted in this matter again to determine if it supports charges against (the mother).”
The letter acknowledges that officials were previously focused on gathering evidence to support charges against the driver.
“Given that no formal warrant request has been presented to my office as it pertains to (the mother), we are unable to provide the victim’s parents with a specific answer regarding potential charges against (her),” Jenkins wrote. “Does your department have any information about the status of an investigation into (her) role in this matter?”
“Director (John) Hutchins instructed me to submit a warrant request to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office for prosecutorial review to determine what charges, if any, are appropriate for her role in this incident,” Detective Derek Lazarski wrote in the police report.”
Parents talk about crash
MacKrell’s parents, Anne Vanker and Thad MacKrell, spoke to Local 4 last month about their son and the case.
“Flynn had an imagination and a creativity that rivaled no one’s,” Vanker said.
They said their son had barely been home for an hour before he was picked up by the friend who eventually crashed.
“There were a number of eyewitnesses, and he had his foot 100% accelerated,” Vanker said.
They said they’ll never forget when police knocked at their door later that night.
“It affects you at a cellular level,” Thad MacKrell said. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced in my life.
“The world’s darker because he’s not in it.”
During the course of the investigation into the young driver, MacKrell’s parents said they learned that the 16-year-old had a history of speeding.
“Pictures he took of himself driving at 155 (mph), 147, 123, 102 -- they were on his phone,” Vanker said. “Then the mom is also quoted saying, ‘I have you driving at such-and-such a speed,’ sending reports from Life360.”
They believe the driver’s mother had a responsibility to take away her son’s keys.
“Parents provide their children with cars and then the state authorizes a child to drive a car,” Thad MacKrell said. “You can’t be without responsibility.”
