Five teens have been charged with second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder after they tossed a huge rock from an overpass as a “prank.” The rock crashed through the windshield of a vehicle killing a father of four who was sitting in the passenger seat of a van his co-worker was driving. All five of the teens are being tried as adults.
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According to Fox News, Kyle Anger, Alexander Miller, Mark Sekelsky, Mikadyn Payne and Trevor Gray were all arrested and charged with the death of 32-year-old Kenneth White. The Michigan teens’ ages vary from 15 to 17.
White was coming home from a long day at the construction site where he worked when a six-pound rock ripped through the passenger seat window and struck him in the neck and head. It’s unclear if White died instantly or after paramedics arrived on scene.
The New York Post reported authorities found over 20 similar rocks littered on the highway where they were apparently thrown from the overpass. One of the rocks reportedly weighed over 20 pounds. Several cars suffered damage from the rocks, but White was the only fatality.
Prosecutor on the case, David Leyton, acknowledged that the boys probably didn’t mean to take a man’s life, but clearly someone is dead because of the teens’ actions. “It was a willful and wanton act that resulted in somebody’s death,” Leyton said. “These people should have known better. … Under Michigan law, that is second-degree murder.”
“These particular individuals knowingly created a very high risk of death or great bodily harm, knowing that death or such harm would be the likely result of such actions,” Leyton added.
The charges were announced hours after the father of four was buried. According to the New York Daily News, White was scheduled to be married in the coming year.
The teens are expected to be in court on Tuesday.