Lenawee County judge sentences ‘absolute threat on the road’ to prison for fatal crash

ADRIAN —A woman from Dundee Accused of causing the accident The woman who claimed the life of an Onsted woman in January was sentenced to prison on Friday.

Madison Steinwedel, 24, was playing a video on her phone the morning of Jan. 29 when the Ford F-350 pickup she was driving crossed the center line of M-50 near the Rixom Expressway and collided with a Chevrolet Malibu driven by 55-year-old Eileen Christoffers. Christoffers died at the scene of the accident. She was driving to her job as a kindergarten teacher near Toledo.

Steinwedel pleaded no contest to reckless driving causing death in October. A plea of ​​no contest does not constitute an admission of guilt, but is treated as an admission of guilt for purposes of sentencing. He pleaded no contest on the basis of potential civil liability.

His attorney, Michael Dagher-Margosian of Lenawee, said that when he learned that the Michigan Department of Corrections had its own policies about who could attend boot camp, he did not withdraw his plea because he did not want the process to drag on. The County Public Defender’s Office said:

“I am truly sorry and I will take responsibility, learn from my mistakes and move on,” Steinwedel told the court. “I know this can’t bring him back, but I want to say I’m sorry.”

Lenawee County Circuit Judge Anna Marie Anzalone sentenced Steinwedel to 22 months to 15 years in prison. Conditions of parole will include not operating a motor vehicle and performing community service by participating in victim impact panels in schools about the dangers of reckless driving. He also ordered Christoffers to pay $5,694.70 to the Crime Victims Compensation Fund to cover funeral expenses.

Anzalone described the sentence as one of the toughest he had ever given. He described Steinwedel as “an absolute menace on the roads” who had previously committed several traffic offenses. He said the driver of a large vehicle like the F-350 has a responsibility to pay attention to the road.

From victim impact statements given in court Friday and multiple letters sent to the court, Anzalone said Christoffers was “wonderful” and “deeply loved.”

“I can’t put a price on his life. His life was priceless,” Anzalone said. “I can only ensure that Madison understands, understands the consequences of Ms. Steinwedel’s actions, and is working hard to ensure that children, teenagers, and teen drivers do not make the same mistakes in the future.”

Christoffers’ husband Jeff, as well as her sisters Elizabeth Moore and Katie Naveau and daughter-in-law Kaylynn Christoffers, shared their memories of Eileen and their wishes regarding Steinwedel’s sentencing with Anzalone. Moore said Eileen looks forward to retiring and becoming a grandmother in four years.

He explained that Steinwedel had seven previous driving violations; these included the inability to keep a safe and clear distance; 99 mph speeding tickets in a 55 mph zone and 85 speeding tickets in a 70 mph zone; and reckless driving.

“You’ve become more and more dangerous,” Moore said.

“Your Honor, Madison has been given a constant slap on the wrist for all these traffic violations,” Moore said. “He obviously didn’t learn or didn’t care. This terrible accident could have been prevented.”

Moore said Steinwedel posted a memorial on TikTok that read “RIP Cocaine Train.” “Someone wrote under this post: ‘Rest in peace in the baddest truck around.'”

“Madison, I hope you understand that you have only lost a truck, an object, an item, something that can be replaced,” Moore said. “You took a loved one from all of us, your wife, your mother, your daughter, your sister, your aunt, and a friend.”

Naveau described her sister as her best friend and a tireless worker who made good decisions both at school and at home and put her husband and sons before herself. He now misses out on many of the events of his life and the rewards of his career.

“Life really isn’t fair for someone like Eileen to get up in the morning, make a pot of casserole, get in her car, drive to work, and get hit and run over because someone decided to watch a TikTok video on the way to work,” Naveau said.

Kaylynn Christoffers said she decided to file a victim impact statement to defend her mother-in-law, those who couldn’t be there Friday, and to tell Anzalone who Eileen was and “the girl who took my life.” second mother.”

“I pray that what we have to endure as a result of your actions will be the final catalyst for change you will ever need,” he said.

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She shared some sweet and funny moments during the 2.5 years she lived in the Christoffers’ home and how she had a relationship with her mother-in-law that many only dream of. He also shared some “hard truths” he’s learned since the accident.

“I learned that the world is unsafe. I learned the emotion behind the word ‘permanent.’ I learned that bad things really happen to good people,” he said. “I learned the true value of appreciating the time we spend with our loved ones, knowing that we may not get more at any moment. I learned that two opposites can be true at the same time, that I can feel it. While I take the opportunity to appreciate the days given to us instead of living in the past, my anger towards the indifference that took his life, my belief that consequences are a necessity “I’ve learned to believe and allow the pain of my past and my gratitude to shape the future.”

Jeff Christoffers said it was difficult to summarize in a few minutes what Eileen meant to him and his family, but he wanted this to be an opportunity for Steinwedel to change the course of his life and impose consequences.

“I remember having to remember not what it was, but what it was like: a body so devastated, so broken, that the coroner had never seen anything like it before,” Mr Christoffers said as he read his statement.

Mr Christoffers said that on the day of the crash he begged officers to let him say goodbye to his wife, but they did not allow him to see her because she was so seriously injured.

“I wanted to hold his hand or kiss his forehead one last time, but they patiently and understandingly assured me that this could not happen,” he said. “They wanted to protect me, just as I hoped to protect Eileen throughout her life. To this day, I haven’t been able to say goodbye to her because I don’t know how to do that.”

He told Steinwedel’s family he sentenced him to life in prison with no parole or probation.

“Help me do something I can’t do for Eileen,” he asked Anzalone. “It was my duty to protect her emotionally, spiritually and physically in life. I failed. I just did. Speak for her. Speak for us and let us know she was important to you. Tell us that even in her passing, Eileen is still alive. She has value.” Because to some, it wasn’t even worth a two-minute video.”

“Mr. Christoffers, you have never failed your wife a day in her life,” Anzalone told Jeff Christoffers before handing down his sentence. “Everyone here knows how much you love each other, and whether he leaves or not, that love remains.”

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

This article was first published on The Daily Telegram: Lenawee County judge sentences Dundee woman to prison for fatal crash