Verdict expected Friday in trial of woman accused of murdering Mason family with car

LEADING THE WAY. CLOSING ARGUMENTS WRAPPING UP LATE THIS IN THE MURDER TRIAL OF A WOMAN ACCUSED OF DRIVING THE WRONG WAY PURPOSELY DOWN THE HIGHWAY, KILLING A MASON FAMILY. PROSECUTORS SAY IT WAS A SUICIDE ATTEMPT. THE DEFENSE SAYS THAT ABBY MICHAELS HAD A SEIZURE. WLWT NEWS 5 KARIN JOHNSON HAS BEEN COVERING THIS FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE TRIAL AND IT STARTED WAY BACK 40 YEARS AGO. AND SHE’S LIVE OUTSIDE THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURTHOUSE IN DAYTON. EXPLAIN WHEN THE JUDGE COULD ISSUE VERDICT. HI THERE. WELL, GOOD EVENING, MIKE. JUDGE STEPHEN DANKOF TOLD ME HE EXPECTS TO ISSUE A VERDICT SOMETIME TOMORROW. HE SAYS HE WILL NOT BE BRINGING FAMILIES, ABBY MICHAELS BACK INTO THE COURTROOM, BUT THIS WILL BE A WRITTEN VERDICT. THE 25 YEAR OLD FROM XENIA FACES SIX COUNTS OF MURDER AND THREE COUNTS OF AGGRAVATED VEHICULAR HOMICIDE ON MARCH 17TH 2019, MICHAEL’S DROVE THE WRONG WAY ON I-75 IN MORAINE AND HIT THE THOMPSON CAR. TIM TIMMY THOMPSON, HIS WIFE KAREN, AND THEIR TEN YEAR OLD DAUGHTER, TESSA, ALL FROM WERE KILLED DURING THE TRIAL. MICHAEL’S HUSBAND, AT THE TIME OF THE CRASH, TESTIFIED HE HAD FILED FOR DIVORCE TWO DAYS PRIOR AND. BEFORE THE CRASH, HE SAID MICHAEL’S TOLD SHE WAS GOING TO DRIVE BACKWARDS ON THE HIGHWAY AND DIE THERE. THE DEFENSE IS WITNESS, A PSYCHIATRIST, TESTIFIED MICHAEL, SUFFERED FROM A SEIZURE DISORDER. AND IMMEDIATELY LEADING UP TO THE CRASH, THE DOCTOR SAYS SHE BELIEVES MICHAEL MICHAELS WAS HAVING A SEIZURE. THE STATE PRESENTED EVIDENCE OF MICHAEL’S STATED INTENT. EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS OF HER DRIVING AND SCIENTIFIC RECONSTRUCT AND RECONSTRUCTION OF THE MOMENTS LEADING UP THAT CRASH ON I-75 THAT THAT EVIDENCE PROVES THAT MICHAEL’S OF MURDER. AND WE ASKED THE COURT FOR THAT VERDICT BECAUSE IT IS A SHAME WHAT HAPPENED HERE. SHAME DOESN’T EVEN BEGIN TO EXPRESS THE LOSS, BUT IT DOESN’T MEAN THAT IT WAS KNOWINGLY DOESN’T MEAN THAT IT WAS RECKLESS AND IT DOESN’T MEAN THAT SHE HAD ANY INTENT. AND AGAIN, A WRITTEN VERDICT EXPECTED TO BE FILED SOMETIME TOMORROW. AND I KNOW A LOT OF THE FOCUS THIS WEEK AND THROUGHOUT REALLY THE LAST FOUR YEARS HAS BEEN ON ABBE MICHAELS. SHE IS THE DEFENDANT IN THIS CASE. BUT I DO WANT TO MENTION THERE HAVE BEEN MEMBERS OF THE THOMPSON FAMILY HERE, ALONG WITH FAMILY, FRIENDS OF THE THOMPSONS. AND I WAS TALKING TO THEM TODAY. AND, YOU KNOW, IT’S BEEN A LONG FOUR YEARS FOR THEM, BUT THEY DO APPRECIATE THE SUPPORT THEY RECEIVE NOT JUST FROM THE MASON AREA, BUT REALLY ALL OF GREATER CINCINNATI. REPORTING LIVE TONIGHT, KARIN

A Xenia woman accused of using her car as a deadly weapon could know by tomorrow if she will be headed to prison, possibly for the rest of her life.Abby Michaels, 25, faces six counts of murder and three counts of aggravated vehicular homicide.Michaels is accused of intentionally driving the wrong way on I-75 on March 17, 2019, and crashing into a Mason family's car. Timmy Thompson, his wife Karen, and their 10-year-old daughter Tessa were killed.Prosecutors said it was a suicide attempt. Michaels' Husband, Kyle Pastorelle, had filed for divorce two days earlier and refused to see her that night."She made those text messages to Kyle, 'Goodbye. I love you. I am dying now' at 8 p.m. That was two-and-a-half minutes before the collision," said Ann Gramza, assistant prosecutor for Montgomery County. Pastorelle testified during the bench trial and said Michaels also told him she was going to drive "backward" on the highway.Defense attorneys said Michaels wasn't in control of her car, because she was having a seizure, and she's had them before."Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures are real. They're not the patient's fault. They're not fake, and they manifest themselves in a way where a person cannot control their motor function," said defense attorney Jay Adams. Adams said since Michaels couldn't control her motor function she was not acting knowingly or recklessly, therefore she should be found not guilty."It is a shame what happened here. Shame doesn't even begin to express the loss, but it doesn't mean that it was knowingly. It doesn't mean that it was reckless, and it doesn't mean that she had any intent," Adams said.Prosecutors said Michaels' own words, witnesses who saw her driving that night, and results of a crash reconstruction should prove her guilt."The steering wheel was turning back and forth, controlled movement. The brake pedal was engaging, disengaging, controlled movement. The gas pedal was floored, released, floored again, released. All of that support controlled movements by Abby Michaels," said Bryan Moore, assistant prosecutor for Montgomery County. Judge Steven Dankof said he plans on filing a written verdict on Friday.

DAYTON, Ohio —

A Xenia woman accused of using her car as a deadly weapon could know by tomorrow if she will be headed to prison, possibly for the rest of her life.

Abby Michaels, 25, faces six counts of murder and three counts of aggravated vehicular homicide.

Michaels is accused of intentionally driving the wrong way on I-75 on March 17, 2019, and crashing into a Mason family's car. Timmy Thompson, his wife Karen, and their 10-year-old daughter Tessa were killed.

Prosecutors said it was a suicide attempt. Michaels' Husband, Kyle Pastorelle, had filed for divorce two days earlier and refused to see her that night.

"She made those text messages to Kyle, 'Goodbye. I love you. I am dying now' at 8 p.m. That was two-and-a-half minutes before the collision," said Ann Gramza, assistant prosecutor for Montgomery County.

Pastorelle testified during the bench trial and said Michaels also told him she was going to drive "backward" on the highway.

Defense attorneys said Michaels wasn't in control of her car, because she was having a seizure, and she's had them before.

"Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures are real. They're not the patient's fault. They're not fake, and they manifest themselves in a way where a person cannot control their motor function," said defense attorney Jay Adams.

Adams said since Michaels couldn't control her motor function she was not acting knowingly or recklessly, therefore she should be found not guilty.

"It is a shame what happened here. Shame doesn't even begin to express the loss, but it doesn't mean that it was knowingly. It doesn't mean that it was reckless, and it doesn't mean that she had any intent," Adams said.

Prosecutors said Michaels' own words, witnesses who saw her driving that night, and results of a crash reconstruction should prove her guilt.

"The steering wheel was turning back and forth, controlled movement. The brake pedal was engaging, disengaging, controlled movement. The gas pedal was floored, released, floored again, released. All of that support controlled movements by Abby Michaels," said Bryan Moore, assistant prosecutor for Montgomery County.

Judge Steven Dankof said he plans on filing a written verdict on Friday.

Verdict expected Friday in trial of woman accused of murdering Mason family with car

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