DAYTON — The fate of a woman who killed three members of a Mason family by driving the wrong way on Interstate 75 is now in the hands of a Montgomery County Common Pleas judge.
After three and a half days of testimony, Judge Steven Dankof heard closing arguments in the trial of Abby Michaels Thursday.
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“The defendant’s intention that night was to take her own life and the means she chose to fulfill it was driving on the wrong side of I-75,” Ann Gramza, Assistant Montgomery County Prosecutor, said.
Prosecutors wasted no time in making it clear that they believe Michaels, 25, “used her car as a deadly weapon” and committed three murders when she drove her car the wrong way on I-75, colliding head-on with Timmy Thompson’s vehicle. The crash killed him, his wife Karen, and their 10-year-old daughter Tessa.
Prosecutors told the judge that all the evidence they presented showed Michaels knowingly took the action that she did. The defense told the judge the opposite.
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“This is a sad case, tragic case,” Jay Adams, Michaels’ lawyer, told the court. “We’ve heard a lot of sad and tragic things in this courtroom.”
Defense lawyers told the judge the witness testimony proved Michaels, who was 21 at the time of the crash on St. Patrick’s Day 2019, was suffering from a psychogenic seizure and did not have control of any of her actions.
“If you cannot control your motor function, you are not acting knowingly or recklessly,” Adams said.
Prosecutors insisted the law is on their side. They said the testimony from Michaels’ ex-husband, Kyle Pastorelle, referring to phone calls and a text message he received from her that night showed she was planning to drive the wrong way.
Prosecutors also said the traffic information from Michaels’ car showed she then steered and braked with purpose through an emergency turnaround before accelerating head-on into the Thompsons’ car.
“She can’t be doing all the things she’s doing on March 17, 2019, as she’s driving from the northbound to the southbound lanes, and having a seizure,” Gramza said. “The facts don’t support that.”
Both sides wrapped up their arguments, leaving the case in the hands of Dankof. The judge News Center 7′s Mike Campbell that he expects to have a written decision filed as soon as tomorrow.