Court Watching: Charles Cahill, Jr. sentenced to 27-50 years for drunk driving death

On Tuesday, Jan. 24, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Morrow sentenced habitual offender Charles James Cahill, Jr. of Sumpter Township, to 27 to 50 years in prison for the second-degree drunken driving murder of 12-year-old Victoria Mack last summer.
He had been facing a life sentence.
The crash was at Martinsville and Willis roads in Sumpter Township at about 8:18 p.m. July 27 and Victoria died on July 30. Cahill reportedly was going 89 mph when he hit the van in the rear with Victoria in the third seat. The prosecutor said he braked two seconds before the crash. She suffered head and spinal injuries.
Cahill’s blood alcohol level was .203%. Michigan law sets a .07% limit for drivers.
Cahill also was sentenced to 5 to 15 years for operating a vehicle while license was suspended causing death and another 5-15 years for operating while intoxicated-3rd offense causing death.
He also pled guilty to two misdemeanors: operating with a high blood alcohol content (sentenced to six months in the county jail) and to open intoxicants in a vehicle (sentenced to three months in jail).
This is his fifth prison sentence for drunk driving, going back to 1997. His license has been suspended since 1990. Cahill also has faced 12 driving while intoxicated charges, according to Secretary of State records. He is labeled a habitual offender.
In November, Cahill plead guilty to all of the charges. He has been in the Wayne County Jail since the accident, first on a bond of $1 million. Then, 34th District Court Judge Tina Brooks Green revoked that bond and he was held without bond.
After sentencing last week he was transferred to the Charles Egeler Reception and Guidance Center in Jackson to await assignment to a state prison. His earliest release date is July 27, 2043.