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Prison sentence imposed in 2022 after fatal crash on US 12 in Franklin Township

ADRIAN – An Onsted man will serve a year in prison for causing an accident in 2022 that killed his friend.

Branden Walker, 27, of Brooklyn died in the car crash that occurred around 4 a.m. on May 22, 2022, on U.S. 12 near Sharon Hollow Road. Dante Roy Taylor, of Onsted, was driving when the car left the road, struck a tree and was thrown through the air. The vehicle crossed U.S. 12 again and came to rest in the ditch across the road. There were no signs of braking, the Lenawee County Sheriff's Office reported.

Walker was found dead at the scene. Taylor was found some time later and taken to a hospital for treatment.

Taylor, now 23, was sentenced Friday by Lenawee County District Court Judge Michael R. Olsaver. He had pleaded no contest in June to reckless driving causing death and driving while intoxicated, with an agreement that he would be sentenced to one year in the Lenawee County Jail and that the original charges of reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident would be dropped.

The original charges, as well as reckless driving causing death, are all felonies punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. A first offense, driving under the influence, is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison, a $200 to $2,000 fine, and 30 to 90 days of community service.

A non-contendere plea is not an admission of guilt, but is treated as a guilty plea at sentencing.

Reading from a prepared statement Friday, Taylor said Walker was like a brother to him. He wishes he could be with him every day and would trade places with him if he could. He said Walker was a great father and loving son and apologized to Walker's family for their loss.

Walker's grandmother, Sherry Laird, expressed in court the loss her family has suffered over his death. She described the pain of explaining to Walker's 8-year-old son that he will never see his father again and said Walker has missed several family events.

The “most horrifying” thing about the incident is that Taylor left her grandson in the car and she does not know if he died on impact or if he died alone, she said.

“All of this could have been prevented by better decisions,” she said.

“At least Dante is alive and can face the court's decision,” she said. “I hope he never gets behind the wheel of another car while drunk again.”

Taylor's attorney, Michael Dagher-Margosian of the Lenawee County Public Defender's Office, said it would be inappropriate to define Walker based on this one incident. He described Walker as a hard-working person who showed him his trust, and he said Walker wanted to use that to improve himself and campaign against drunk driving. He also said Taylor's blood alcohol content after the crash was .05, which is below the legal limit of .08 in Michigan.

Lenawee County Assistant Prosecutor Alex Bayoneto raised the possibility that Taylor might qualify for the Michigan Department of Corrections' boot camp program. He asked Olsaver to give Taylor a longer sentence if he considered boot camp so he would serve at least a year in prison.

“He ultimately left the victim there on the side of the road, which led to his death,” Bayoneto said.

The difficulty in reaching a verdict in this case is that Walker and Taylor were friends, there was no malicious intent and Taylor had no criminal record, Olsaver said.

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“We have two friends, one of whom made the tragic decision to get behind the wheel of a car after consuming alcohol,” Olsaver said.

Taylor appears remorseful, Olsaver said, but his departure from the scene of the accident was disturbing.

“Difficult things happen in life, and they get worse when you run from them,” he said.

He said he believed Taylor and Dagher-Margosian's statements that the incident had changed Taylor, and he hoped he would “tell the story of what happened to him to try to prevent it from happening to other people.”

A prison sentence was appropriate, Olsaver said. He followed the sentencing agreement and sentenced Taylor to three years' probation, the first year in prison, and ordered him to pay $998 in court costs and $450 in attorney fees. He gave him credit for 37 days he had already served, including time since July 12, when Olsaver revoked Taylor's bond and transferred him to sheriff's custody because he failed to complete the mandatory pre-sentence interview with a probation officer in time for his original sentencing date.

– Contact reporter David Panian at [email protected] or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @lenaweepanian.

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