Slow down! Michigan mom's texts to son may come back to haunt her

Just weeks before he killed his friend in a car crash, Michigan teenager Kiernan Tague was blasting across highways at more than 140 mph in his family's Audi sports coupe, photographing the speedometer and getting texts from his mom: "Slow... down!"

According to police reports, his mom knew about his driving habits through a special safety app called Life360, and once texted him: "I have screen shots of you ... doing 123 mph ... It scares me to my bone."

But she didn't take away his keys.

Rather, she bought a faster and more powerful car, and allegedly gave him access to it: a BMW X3 M series that can reach up to 177 mph. That's what Kiernan was driving the night he lost control at 105 mph on a residential street in Grosse Pointe Farms, a Detroit suburb, hitting a pole and then a tree, killing his passenger: 18-year-old Flynn MacKrell, a stellar, 6-foot-4 swimmer known for his gentle ways, easy smile and shaggy red hair.

"To say this is a living hell is an understatement," Flynn's mom, Anne Vanker, said through tears in a recent interview with the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. "My life has been ruined. My family’s life is ruined. No one should ever, ever have to lose a child like this ... I still can’t believe my son — my big calm son — is gone."

Nine months after Flynn's tragic death, his family is seeking justice: Not just for the driver's actions, but for his mom's inaction.

Family wants mom charged: 'He was speeding over and over, and mom knew it'

MacKrell's family is asking Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy to pursue criminal charges against the driver's mom, Elizabeth Puleo-Tague — much like another Michigan prosecutor, Oakland County's Karen McDonald, sought parental accountability after the deadly mass shooting at Oxford High School in 2021. She charged the gunman's parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, who were convicted of involuntary manslaughter this year in a landmark prosecution that put parents everywhere on notice.

The Crumbleys, who bought the gun that their son, Ethan, used in his rampage, are serving 10-year prison sentences after separate juries held them responsible for the lives of four students — 16-year-old Tate Myre; 17-year-olds Madisyn Baldwin and Justin Shilling, and 14-year-old Hana St. Juliana — killed by their son. Ethan Crumbley also injured six students and a teacher.

The MacKrell family is hoping for a similar result.

"We believe there is cause to bring criminal charges against Mrs. Elizabeth Tague," the family writes in a letter delivered in July to Prosecutor Worthy. "The (police) report and the investigation clearly illustrate that not only were Mr. Tague’s driving habits criminal — frequently filming himself speeding at more than 100 mph on our local Detroit roads — but that (his mom) was intimately aware of his behavior, but did not take the actions of a 'reasonable' person to prevent harm."

The letter reads much like the legal arguments against the Crumbleys, who were accused of failing to take reasonable actions to prevent their child from harming others: Like not putting a cable lock on the gun he sneaked out of the house and used to shoot up his school, or not bringing him home from school when he drew a picture of a gun in class and wrote "The Thoughts won't stop. Help me" on a school worksheet. Instead, the Crumbleys returned to their jobs. Two hours later, their son fired his first shot.

Vanker believes the parents of the driver who killed her son were even more complicit.

'She was sitting on a ticking time bomb ... It's like she handed him an AR-15'

Vanker says the driver's mom knew for months her son was driving recklessly, warned him about it, but never did anything to stop it. Moreover, she says, the mom — who also drives a 2015 Subaru Forester — could have given Kiernan that car to drive instead of the Audi he was speeding around town in.

Perhaps most egregious, Vanker said, is that the mom, who had expressed concern about her son's speeding in the Audi, went out and bought the more tempting and faster BMW. According to police reports, on the night of the crash, Kiernan's mom was in Canada and left the keys to the BMW at home.

"She was sitting on a ticking time bomb. She knows he's out of control, yet she basically gets him a weapon," Vanker said. "It's like she handed him an AR-15."

What she should have done, Flynn's family argues, was revoke her son's driving privileges.

As Flynn's dad, Thad MacKrell, put it: "No more cars — it's that simple."

Teen driver charged with 2nd-degree murder, designated an adult

The driver's mom, Elizabeth Puleo-Tague, of Grosse Pointe Farms, declined to be interviewed for this article. Kiernan's father, Brian Tague, is deceased. His parents divorced in 2019.

The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office offered no details about whether charges would be filed against Kiernan Tague's mother, saying only that Flynn MacKrell's family's request is under review, and that it received an official warrant request from the Grosse Pointe police. A warrant request typically contains police reports, forensic evidence, photos and witness statements to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to criminally charge someone — in this case, Kiernan Tague's mother.

Kiernan Tague, 17, who lives down the street from Flynn's family and became friends with him in 2017, was charged with second-degree murder in March and is awaiting trial in Wayne County Circuit Court. He is not charged as an adult, but is "adult designated," which means, if he's convicted, the judge could sentence him as an adult or a juvenile, or impose a blended sentence. Second-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

"I want him in prison for as long as possible," said Vanker, maintaining he deserves no leniency. "Why should he get a break? This kid had every break and every privilege there is."

Tague's attorney, Mitchell Ribitwer, declined comment, beyond saying: "This was tragic for both sides."

Life360 records: Teen drove 127-155 mph weeks before tragedy

According to police reports, cellphone exchanges and Life360 records obtained by the Free Press, here is a glimpse of Kiernan's driving patterns in the weeks and months before the Nov. 17, 2023, fatal crash:

• In July and August 2023, he hit speeds of 127 mph, 143 mph, 102 mph, 150 mph and 155 mph — all on separate days. Photos of his speedometer tracking these speeds were found on his cellphone.
• In the two weeks before the fatal crash, Life360 recorded 94 trips by Kiernan, nearly half of them over 90 mph. The highest speed recorded was on Nov. 1, when he drove 153 mph for 20 miles.
• Videos on Kiernan's cellphone show him drag racing twice, in September and October. Another video shows him driving recklessly through the Millender Center tunnel in downtown Detroit.

This data infuriates the MacKrell family, they said, especially because the driver's mom had access to it.

"There were all these signs," Vanker said, fuming over why Elizabeth Tague bought the BMW in October 2023, one month after sending her son concerning texts about his speeding.

Mom and sister warned teen about speeding in texts

On Sept. 14, 2023, Elizabeth Tague texted her son: "Slow... down right now!" A Life360 report showed him traveling 123 mph.

About two weeks later, Kiernan got a text from his sister about a Grosse Pointe girl who was killed by a drunken driver.

"Speed limits exist for a reason," the sister texted her younger brother.

Kiernan responded that he knew the victim, and said: "Jesus. That's tragic."

Two hours later that same day, he got a text from his mom:

"I have screenshots of you doing 90 mph in the middle of the night when I didn't even know you had left (a friend's) lake house ... And again two weeks ago going 123 mph just because."

The text continued: "And your obsession (word choice intentional) with cars having upwards of 600 hp — It's not healthy. It's not safe. And it scares me to my bone."

Three weeks later, Elizabeth Tague bought the BMW.

Groundbreaking New York case may bolster Michigan prosecution

In a recent, groundbreaking case in New York, a mom and dad were criminally charged after their teenage son crashed a BMW into a truck at more than 100 mph last year, killing his 14-year-old passenger. The parents were charged with endangering the welfare of a child for allowing their son to drive when he was legally unable to do so.

Last month, the parents were sentenced to probation and ordered to take parenting classes.

"With this conviction, we have shown that the culpability in a fatal crash can go beyond the driver," Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement. "Parents who provide vehicles to their children and let them drive illegally can be held responsible in the case of tragedies such as this one."

That's precisely what the MacKrells are arguing in their request for prosecution. And, they maintain, they have the technology and data to prove it.

Police: Mother had 'little to no control' over her son

For the MacKrell family, Kiernan was the polite neighborhood kid who regularly hung out at their house after showing up on his bike one day. He always thanked them for dinners and often offered to help bring groceries into the house. He was a few years younger than Flynn and looked up to him, they said, noting he was a swimmer like their son, but went to University of Detroit Jesuit High School.

Anne Vanker said she didn't know much about Kiernan's family life, or his parents, other than they were going through a divorce and Kiernan appeared upset about it.

As for his driving habits, she knew nothing about them — until it was too late.

Following her son's death, the police would conduct an investigation that revealed not only Kiernan's driving patterns, but problems he was having at home, as evidenced in "extensive" text messages between him and his mom.

As one investigator wrote in his report: "There was much conversation about Kiernan taking/using his mother’s credit card without permission, being out during overnight hours without permission, and about Kiernan’s extensive reckless driving habits.”

The investigator continued: "The messages between the two suggest that Kiernan’s mother has little to no control over Kiernan. Kiernan regularly drove recklessly and took/used his mother’s credit cards without permission, despite his mother’s repeated orders not to.”

One text exchange, however, showed a cordial relationship between the two. "Will you pick up a bottle of wine?? … Please!" the mother texted her son on Oct. 2, 2023. "Sure," Kiernan responded.

One week later, his mom sent him a screenshot of a website explaining the penalties for having a fake ID.

Almost a month later, a fight would break out at home, with Kiernan breaking a table after his mom refused to let him use her car — though which vehicle was not mentioned.

"I simply asked you to take your car ... yet you refused. Now I'm running late and we have a broken table," Kiernan texted his mom on Nov. 3, 2023, two weeks before the fatal crash.

His mom accused him of "gaslighting" her.

Kiernan apologized: "I'm sorry about your table."

Teen driver no stranger to law enforcement

According to police records, Kiernan has had at least 22 documented contacts with police since 2018. The majority of police calls involve Grosse Pointe City police responding to complaints that Kiernan was out of control at home and breaking things in the house.

"His mother repeatedly told responding officers that she was afraid of Kiernan," an investigator writes in a report, adding the teen's most recent police contact before the crash was on Aug. 30, 2023, when police were called to Kiernan's house "because he was yelling and throwing items within the house because his mother refused to get him an American Express Gold Card."

In 2020, police responded to another call from the mom, who alleged "that Kiernan had just assaulted her and fled the area." According to a police report, Kiernan was being picked up at his friend’s house and became angry at his mother. "While in the front seat, Kiernan turned around and began punching his mother (who was in the back seat) and even bit her on her hand." Kiernan was arrested for domestic violence and lodged at the Wayne County youth home.

Thanksgiving break ends in tragedy

Flynn was a freshman at the University of Dayton when his dad picked him up from college last fall and brought him home for Thanksgiving break. It was about 8:15 p.m. when he got home. He hugged his dogs, jumped in his bed and put on a movie as he waited for his friend, Kiernan, to pick him up. The two had planned to visit a friend and then come back and play video games at Flynn's house.

Just before 9 p.m., Kiernan pulled up in his mom's new BMW and the two went to their mutual friend's house nearby. The three friends spoke in the driveway for a few minutes, then Kiernan and Flynn left.

What followed was a nightmare the MacKrell family cannot shake.

Kiernan took their son on a deadly, 7-second joy ride down Ridge Road, going so fast that the $70,000 sports car split in half following impact.

Their gentle-giant Flynn — the boy who wouldn't go to Cedar Point amusement park because he didn't like roller coasters — died in fear.

"Nothing's going to end the hell we've been through," Vanker said, crying as she noted she still can't clean Flynn's room. "It's inconceivable to me I've lost my son."

Two siblings also lost their younger brother that day: 20-year-old Thaddeus MacKrell and 23-year-old Lily MacKrell.

According to police reports, alcohol and drugs were not involved in the accident, which triggered multiple calls to 911 that night as horrified motorists and neighbors witnessed the BMW flying down the street.

"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," an investigator wrote in his report.

Both the driver and passenger were in their seat belts.

Kiernan initially was able to step out of the vehicle on his own, but eventually collapsed and was transported to a nearby hospital with serious injuries.

Flynn was pronounced dead at the scene.

'I will see Flynn again'

On a recent morning, the MacKrell family gathered in their living room to share memories of Flynn and talk about their fight for justice. A large photo of the smiling college freshman adorned the fireplace mantle, along with an urn holding his ashes. The color orange, in honor of Flynn's tousled hair, was everywhere: Bracelets. Stickers. Flowers. His mom's outfit.

"Flynn was an angel. He was selfless. He wanted so much for you" said Thaddeus MacKrell, who got choked up as he talked about losing his younger brother.

Flynn was his brother's imaginative sidekick; the boy he pretended to be superheroes with as kids; the one who never outgrew his love of imaginary play, trampolines and backyard water slides.

"I've been robbed of the next 60 or 70 years of my life with Flynn," Thaddeus, an art student at the University of Michigan, said.

As his wife and son reminisced about Flynn, Thad MacKrell stared out of a living room window, struggling to find the words to express his pain and loss. He said he has had many sleepless nights, tortured by what was, and what could have been.

Flynn was his dreamer son, the imaginative kid who created fictional characters and stories in his head that he talked incessantly about until his family would say, "Write it down!" He dreamed of making movies one day and had a natural warmth that made people want to be around him, a trait that earned him the nickname the "Pied Piper."

This is how Thad MacKrell wants the world to remember his son: for how he lived, not how he died.

"Flynn wasn't worried about the future," his brother, Thaddeus said. "He wasn't worried about his own place in this world, because he innately didn't have to. He was in the moment. He was always in the moment."

And though he grieves daily, Thaddeus said, this much he's certain of: "I will see Flynn again."

Tresa Baldas can be reached at [email protected].