Grosse Pointe teen enters guilty plea as juvenile in 100 MPH fatal crash that killed passenger

The remains of the BMW X3 after the fatal crash at Ridge and Moran that killed Flynn Mackrell.

FOX 2 - A Grosse Pointe teen charged in the fatal crash that killed his 18-year-old friend, has entered a guilty plea Friday.

The driver, now 17, is not being charged as an adult, but has been adult designated, allowing the judge to be flexible in giving the sentence.

The backstory:

The crash killed Grosse Pointe resident Flynn Mackrell on Nov. 17, 2023 in Grosse Pointe Farms. A police report had the 2021 BMW X3 going 100-plus miles an hour in a 25 MPH zone when the teen driver hit a lamp post with the vehicle, it flew in the air, flipped, and hit a tree.

The driver was found belted behind the wheel, and the victim, Mackrell, unresponsive, belted into the passenger seat at the crash site in the area of Ridge and Moran roads.

The juvenile entered a guilty plea to manslaughter with a motor vehicle with an adult designation. He will be sentenced on June 6, 2025, at 9 a.m., before Judge Michael McClorey.

The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office said that the adult designation allows the judge to have the option of sentencing the defendant as a juvenile, or as an adult, or to fashion a blended juvenile sentence with the option of imposing an adult sentence if the juvenile is not rehabilitated.

The suspect had been charged as an adult with second-degree murder.

Victim Flynn Mackrell

Mom of Grosse Pointe teen won't be charged after high-speed crash that killed 18-year-old

There was a push from Mackrell's family to have the driver's parents charged. Worthy explored that option deciding against filing charges due to lack of evidence. She added that the teen's mom tried to curb her son's behavior.

The Source: Information for this story was taken from a release by the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, the police report, and the family of Flynn Mackrell.