Former MSU coach sentenced to 7-15 years after texting in car led to deadly crash
Former Michigan State strength and conditioning coach Todd Moyer was sentenced to 7-15 years after being found guilty last month on two counts of reckless driving causing death, according to WDIV Detroit.
BREAKING: Todd Moyer sentenced 86 months-15 years for distracted driving crash that killed a Mom and her five year old daughter. Judge Micheal Weipert said “this was no accident, the message is not getting through – don’t text and drive” pic.twitter.com/XoSrnONJlK
— Priya Mann (@priyamanntv) August 30, 2018
According to a report from The Detroit News, Monroe County prosecutors say that Moyer had been texting and searching for local strip clubs on his phone in July 2017 immediately before his car, traveling 78 mph, collided with another car containing 36-year-old Gladys Johnson and her 5-year-old daughter Za’Kira. The crash was fatal for both of the other car’s occupants.
Moyer’s sentence was decided by Michigan 38th Circuit Court Judge Michael A. Weipert.
Moyer was reportedly driving on the southbound U.S. Route 23 in a construction zone signaled by a rumble strip and eight orange warning signs, but that did not stop him from trying to brake or evade until at least five seconds before the crash.
The details of Moyer’s activities and his immediate reaction walking away from the crash, via the report:
In the five minutes before, according to a press release, Moyer conducted one Google search for strip clubs in Delaware, Ohio, and texted a link one minute before crashing. He also received and read eight texts and sent four others. Moyer’s only unread message occurred at the same time he collided.
After the impact, according to prosecutors, Moyer texted: “Omg, I’m (explicit). Two ppl killed,” “Bro. I swear,” “I’m going to jail.”
At the time, Moyer had been working for the Michigan State basketball team as an associate strength and conditioning coach, but he has since parted ways with the program.
Moyer faced up to 15 years in prison on the two counts of deadly reckless driving, with prosecutors recommending top sentencing guidelines. Moyer’s attorneys countered with a proposal that didn’t include any prison time, but did feature Moyer recording an anti-distracted driving PSA with Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo.
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