Cahill pleads guilty to five charges in death of girl in crash

Charles James Cahill, 49, of Sumpter Township on Nov. 22 pled guilty to five charges including homicide that could bring him up to life in prison.
Cahill appeared before Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Bruce U. Morrow, who accepted his guilty pleas and will sentence him on Jan. 13.
Cahill, who had a long list of drunk-driving convictions on his record, has been in the Wayne County Jail without bond since he was arrested at the scene of the July 27 accident that led to the death of 12-year-old Victoria Mack.
Cahill pled guilty to murder in the second degree, operating while intoxicated causing death, operating with high blood alcohol content, driving while license suspended causing death, and driving with open intoxicants in the vehicle. He also is labeled a habitual offender, which stiffens the sentence.
The charges stem from the 8:18 p.m., July 27 accident at the corner of Willis and Martinsville roads in Sumpter Township. Cahill reportedly was northbound at more than 80 mph on Martinsville in a GMC Yukon when he collided with a minivan with Victoria in the back seat.
Victoria was a student at the Ann Arbor Magnet School in Detroit and would have been in the seventh grade this school year.
According to the Michigan Department of State, Cahill’s long list of driving violations dates to 1986 and continued through May.
His driving record includes multiple instances of driving with a suspended license, disobeying traffic signals and seven accidents. According to his driving record, two accidents were listed on June 27, 1996 — one in Westland with no injuries and another in Livonia with one person injured.