DETROIT (WXYZ) — Kathleen and Corey McMahon will carry the sadness of their son Connor's tragic death for the rest of their lives. Connor McMahon, 23, was the beloved community rec leader and teacher at Fraser High School killed by a drunk driver on June 13, 2023.
"Every day somebody's driving drunk and they don't realize the impact it's going to have on other people," said Kathleen, as she and her husband, along with family and friends, stood outside of Wayne County's Third Circuit Court where the woman who killed Connor was sentenced Friday.
As part of a plea deal for operating under the influence causing death, Brooke Lynn Charles, 25, was sentenced to five to fifteen years in prison. Two other charges, failure to stop at the scene of an injury accident and assaulting a police officer, were dismissed as part of that deal.
For months, Connor McMahon's family and friends tried to stop any kind of a deal from being negotiated because they believed the evidence against Charles would have easily resulted in a conviction and she would have received a stiffer sentence.
Evidence that would have been used in a trial included videos from Michigan State Police and Harper Woods Police taken from dash cameras and body-worn cameras.
According to investigators, on June 13 around 10:20 pm, McMahon pulled over on the right shoulder of I-94, partially on the embankment, to change a flat tire when Charles drove her car off the roadway, striking him.
As McMahon laid dying on the roadway, Charles grabbed her dog from her vehicle and tried to flee the scene. She was apprehended after a brief foot chase.
When tested, Brooke Lynn Charles' blood alcohol was .12, well over the legal limit.
And although the plea deal had been made, the McMahons were able to have their impact statements read in court Friday before Brooke Lynn Charles was officially sentenced.
"After Connor was killed, we found out that Miss Charles' father was convicted of the same crime of driving intoxicated causing death. Nothing has changed in her family. You must all be proud. No consideration for life other than your own," Connor's father said in a statement read by Angela Cook from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).
Roy Alexander Charles was convicted of driving under the influence causing death for the 2000 death of a woman on I-75 in Oakland County.
Family and friends of Brooke Charles who attended her sentencing Friday declined to speak during or after court.
In a statement to 7 Action News about the negotiated plea in McMahon's death, Maria Miller of the Wayne County Prosecutor's Officer wrote, "Connor McMahon was a dedicated teacher in the Fraser Public School system who tragically lost his life at the young age of 23. Our hearts go out to his family, friends and students. The 25-year-old defendant in this case was given a plea agreement of 5 to 15 years in prison. This is within the sentencing guidelines. Her sentence represents the gravity of the crime that she committed."
McMahon's family will always believe the case should have been taken to trial.
Kathleen McMahon said, "I don't understand. We probably won't ever understand."
