Man with 12 Drunken Driving Convictions Charged in Girl’s Death

SUMPTER TOWNSHIP, MI — Charles James Cahill already had a dozen drunken driving convictions, accumulated over a 31-year period, when he was accused of the crime for a 13th time last week — driving, police said, with a blood alcohol content that was nearly three times the legal limit and with an open container of booze on the passenger seat.

According to Michigan Department of Corrections records, the 49-year-old Belleville man had been involved in seven collisions — including two on the same day, June 27, 1996 — before he allegedly slammed into a minivan at a stop sign in Sumpter Township on July 27, snuffing out the life of 12-year-old Victoria Mack, a third-row-seat passenger in a minivan.

Police said Cahill was driving at a high rate of speed before the horrific collision at Martinsville Road near Willis about 8:15 p.m. Two other children, ages 2 and 3, and Victoria’s parents were also in the van but were not injured.

Rescuers had to cut Victoria from the gnarled wreckage before airlifting her to C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor. Victoria, who friends said loved her parents, her siblings and learning, clung to life for three days before her family made the heartbeaking decision to take her off life support and donate her organs.

On Wednesday, authorities amended their charges against Cahill to include second-degree murder, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.

Cahill’s $1 million bond was revoked by 34th District Court Judge Tina Brooks-Green, and he remains in the Wayne County Jail on charges that also include two other felonies — operating a motor vehicle with a high BAC, causing death, and operating with a suspended license, causing death — and a misdemeanor charge of open intoxicants in a motor vehicle.

The charges against Cahill, who hasn’t had a valid license since 1989, could send him to prison for the rest of his life, but some have questioned why he wasn’t already behind bars.

“I see it all too often,” Tyler MacEachran, executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving's Michigan office, told the Detroit Free Press. “It’s a horrible, horrible example of the process of license revocation that's supposed to keep alleged drunk drivers off the road.

“We have technologies that would make it impossible for individuals like that to operate their vehicles while drunk,” MacEachran said.

On Facebook, fans of the Sumpter Township Police Department were inflamed.

“Why was he free?” Bridgette Brice Dalton asked in a comment on the post. “(Three) times over the limit means he knew he should of sat his behind back down for awhile or asked for a ride. So sick of hearing ‘I know how to drive’ or ‘I’ve never been caught.’”

Josh Brice said he witnessed the horrific crash.

“He had to have been going 70 mph through that intersection as I watched him slam into this van (and) never hit the brakes! And he had NO remorse for his actions at the scene! Twelve prior convictions? This guy deserves the maximum that he should've gotten years ago! What a shame that he was free at all…”

Another commenter, Joe Sherwood, said Cahill “isn't the only one who should be behind bars.”

“Every prosecutor and judge who allowed him to remain free after the third offense should be charged as well,” he wrote. “They may not have drove the vehicle, but they are very much responsible for this happening since they didn't lock him up when he showed that he was going to continue doing it.”

Cahill is due back in court at 10 a.m. Aug. 24 for a probable cause conference.

Two days before the deadly crash, Cahill had a run-in with police, who charged him with domestic violence and assault after he allegedly threw his girlfriend on the street, WXYZ-TV said.

Police said he was drunk at the time.

Image credit: Sumpter Township Police Department