Jury Finds Michael Grasing Not Guilty of Murder in Crash That Killed Brittney Walsh

A Suffolk County jury has found a Babylon man guilty of aggravated vehicular homicide, but not murder, stemming from the DWI crash that killed Lindenhurst teen Brittney Walsh in 2012.

Michael Grasing, 34, faces up to 25 years in prison following the verdict on Wednesday.

Grasing, who was driving with a blood alcohol level of .32, four times the legal limit, when he rear-ended Walsh’s SUV on Montauk Highway in Lindenhurst, causing the SUV to flip multiple times and strike a utility pole, was also found guilty of second degree manslaughter in the second degree, a felony punishable by five to 15 years in prison, leaving the scene of an accident, aggravated DWI, failure to stay in a designated lane and speeding.

Grasing was found not guilty of the top charge in the indictment against him–second degree murder.

“I respect the verdict of the jury that has worked so diligently since the trial began in October,” Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said in a statement.

“The death of the witness who warned the defendant to slow down or he’d kill someone deprived the jury of that critical testimony,” Spota said. “Nevertheless, the jury did find that as a result of Grasing’s extreme intoxication, Grasing left his lane of traffic while speeding and crashed into the victim, taking the life of this young, innocent woman. He then attempted to leave the scene of the crash, continuing down the highway, mowing down several traffic signs and narrowly missing pedestrians before he slammed into a pole at 16th Street”.

Walsh, who graduated from Copiague High School two days before the fatal crash, was 18 when she died. She was a student-athlete who was involved in track and soccer as well as the National Honor Society and student council and she planned to head to York College in the fall of 2012 to study sports management.

Walsh’s father, Thomas Walsh, said he knew “the murder verdict was something of a long shot,” according to Newsday, adding, “The jury did a great job.”