Girl dies after crash involving drunk driver in Sumpter Township

Twelve-year-old Veronica Mack of Romulus died Saturday from injuries suffered when the van in which she was riding was stopped at a stop sign and struck from the rear on Martinsville Road at Willis in Sumpter Township.
The accident occurred at about 8:18 p.m., Wednesday, July 27.
Charles James Cahill, Jr., 49, of Sumpter Township, was arrested at the scene and was arraigned at the 34th District Court on four felony charges: operating while intoxicated causing serious injury, operating while intoxicated – 3rd offense, driving while license suspended causing serious injury, habitual offender-4th, plus a felony motor vehicle notice.
Following the girl’s death, on Monday afternoon The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office amended the charges against Cahill. Now there are five felony charges.
The current charges are: 2nd degree murder, operating with a high blood alcohol content causing death, operating while intoxicated – 3rd offense, driving while license suspended causin death, open intoxicants in a motor vehicle and habitual offender 4th.
Cahill was arraigned on the amended charges on Aug. 3. His next court date is Aug. 17 at 34th District Court.
He is currently being held in the Wayne County Jail on a $1 million bond.
The investigation revealed that Cahill was traveling northbound on Martinsville Road near Willis at a very high rate of speed and rear-ended the stopped minivan containing five occupants, including three female children ages 2, 3 and 12.
Victoria, who was positioned in the third-row seat, was critically injured and had to be cut from the vehicle by the Sumpter Township Fire Department. She was then transported by ambulance to the Ace Hardware parking lot where a Survival Flight helicopter was able to land and fly her to Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor.
The Sumpter Township Police Department was assisted on the scene by the Michigan State Police Downriver Traffic Crash Reconstruction Team.
After his arrest, testing showed that Cahill was almost three times the legal limit at the time of the crash, said Sumpter Police Chief Eric Luke. Furthermore, his driving record shows 12 prior drunk driving convictions even though his driver’s license had been revoked by the Secretary of State since 1990.
On Monday, Channel 4 News interviewed Chief Luke who said it was his opinion that with such a background, Cahill should have been locked away in prison, not driving around. He was a ticking time bomb, Chief Luke said.
Victoria was a student at the Ann Arbor Magnet School in Detroit and would have been a seventh grader this fall. A GoFundMe page has been set up for her funeral expenses.