A judge told four Michigan teens Tuesday that they would face sentencing as adults after throwing rocks from an overpass over a busy interstate in 2017. One of the rocks ended up killing a young father driving home from work.
FOX 2 News reports that the teens, Mark Sekelsky, 18, Mikadyn Payne, 17, Trevor Gray, 16, and Alexzander Miller, 16, were throwing rocks from an I-75 overpass in Genesee County, in October 2017, when a large boulder smashed into a van driven by Kenneth White, 32.
A fifth teen, Kyle Anger, who was 17 at the time of the incident, is being tried separately for second-degree murder. Authorities said Anger was the one who threw the 20-pound boulder that killed White.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, White, a father of four children, died from his injuries after the rock smashed into his windshield and hit him the head.
The teens threw around 20 rocks from a few different overpasses on the night in question, damaging numerous vehicles, according to CNN. They later stopped by a local McDonald’s to eat, police said.
At court on Tuesday, Judge Joseph J. Farah declared that although Anger dropped the boulder that ultimately killed the victim, all of the teens were complicit in the crime and participated in “Overpassing.” Each suspect took turns throwing rocks from overpasses in an “ongoing game” that eventually ended in tragedy. In turn, all five will face consequences as adults.
“What was the purpose? To wait until the road cleared to drop the item to see it break? No, to make contact [with a car] in this game called Overpassing. To be able to say aloud, ‘Dinger!’ when a car was hit. It can’t be overlooked that I’m going to assume, I’m going to assume that Kenny White’s vehicle was the last one hit.”
Farrah added that after the incident, the teens conspired online to “lay low” and said no one would get caught unless a “bitch n****” told on them. Farrah said that the teens’ conversations showed a lack of remorse and regard for what they did, which helped him decide to sentence the teens to an adult correctional facility.
The defense requested to allow the teens to be sentenced at a juvenile level, but the judge, apparently disgusted by the callousness of the crime, slammed a folder down and rejected the request.
Sentencing has been scheduled for a later date. Check back with CrimeOnline as additional details become available.
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[Feature Photo: Kenneth White/ Handout]