Court Watching update: Mother, father reach plea agreements in 2015 child’s death on Harris Rd.

The parents of a child who ran out onto Harris Road in Sumpter Township and was hit and killed by a car in August 2015 each has been sentenced to five years of probation after accepting plea deals.
Larissa Lydia Gagnon, 30, and Chad Ryan Vanover, 28, were tried separately with separate retained attorneys at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice on identical charges of homicide/involuntary manslaughter and second-degree child abuse.
Gagnon had personal recognizance bond of $2,000 and Vanover was out on $20,000 personal recognizance bond.
The Wayne County Prosecutor’s office signed the warrants for their arrests on Dec. 1, 2016.
Chief 34th District Court Judge Tina Brooks Green presided at their preliminary exams on March 15, 2017 and made the decision there was probable cause to send the cases to a higher court.
Eighteen-month-old Chad was hit by a passing car in front of his grandfather’s home at 40900 Harris Road.
On Aug. 24, Gagnon pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter and the child abuse charge was dismissed. Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Vonda Evans sentenced Gagnon to five years of probation, starting Sept. 25, 2017.
Vanover pled nolo contendere to both charges on Sept. 11, 2017 just before his jury trial was to begin. Circuit Court Judge James Chylinski sentenced him to nine months in jail and credited him with 70 days time served. He also was sentenced to five years of probation on each of the two charges, and the probation is being served concurrently starting Oct. 23, 2017.
Sumpter Township Police Chief Eric Luke said this was a “terribly sad case all around.”