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Man With A Dozen Drunk Driving Convictions Gets 27-50 Years In Girl's Death

SUMPTER TOWNSHIP (WWJ) - A man with a dozen drunken driving convictions might end up spending the rest of his life behind bars after causing a crash that killed a 12-year-old girl.

A Wayne County Circuit Court judge on Tuesday sentenced 49-year-old Charles Cahill to 27 to 50 years in prison. Cahill pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the crash last summer near Romulus that killed 12-year-old Victoria Mack.

Before the sentencing was announced, Mack's parents issued separate statements saying they would not forgive Cahill.

"I was trying to get the kids out of the house for the day to have some fun at the beach. I never would have thought that would be the last day that I'd have a conversation with my daughter," Darlena Savage said through tears. "Because of your recklessness, my daughter is gone. You had plenty of opportunity to change your life but you didn't, and my daughter had to pay the price."

For his part, a tearful Cahill apologized to the family: "I've battled drinking for many years. And there's no excuse for what I did to the Mack family. I also apologize to my family for this embarrassment. I am responsible for her death. I can't forgive myself. I wish it was me, I wish I could change that day. If I could change that moment that happened, I would. ... May God have mercy on my soul."

Victoria Mack died in July, three days after the van she was in was rear-ended by Cahill's vehicle on Martinsville Road near Willis Road in Sumpter Township. Investigators say Cahill's blood alcohol content was nearly three times the legal limit. Cahill was driving with an open container of alcohol in the car, according to police, and had been involved with a domestic issue just before the accident.

State records show Cahill's driver's license had been suspended 17 times since 1986. Many of Cahill's convictions came since he lost his license in 1990. In 2011, he was released from prison after three years – two years short of his maximum sentence. The Belleville man also was sent to prison in 1997.

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