A Michigan couple who lost their 18-year-old star athlete son in a 100 mph crash last year are seeking compensation from the driver's mother after receiving text messages indicating she knew about her son's reckless speeding habits yet allowed him to drive a high-performance vehicle.
On November 17, 17-year-old Kieran Tagge was home from college for Thanksgiving break when he picked up his friend and neighbor, Flynn Mackrell, 18, from his parents' home in the Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe. Detroit Free Press.
But just five minutes after picking up Mackrel in his BMW X3 M Series, TargetThe 16-year-old was traveling 105 mph in a 25 mph speed zone when he lost control of his car, crashed into a pole and then a tree, splitting it in half.
Mackrell, a standout freshman swimmer at the University of Dayton, died in the crash, while Tague was taken to a nearby hospital with serious injuries but survived.
March, Target He has been charged with second-degree murder and is out on bail awaiting trial in Wayne County.
But then investigators discovered the following document: Target's mother, Elizabeth Puleo Tage, had noticed her son was careless while driving and had berated him for his speeding habits in a text message two months before the fatal accident.
“Slow down now!” she allegedly texted her son on Sept. 14 after GPS tracking app Life360 alerted him that he was going 123 mph in the family's Audi Coupe. Detroit Free Press.
“I have screenshots of you going 90mph when I didn't even know you left the house in the middle of the night…and then 2 weeks ago you were going 123mph for no reason,” another message from the mother to her son read.
According to the media, she stressed to her son that his actions “scare me to the core.”
Nonetheless, a few weeks after Elisabeth Puleo-Tague reprimanded her son, she bought a brand new BMW and allowed him to use it, despite the car being capable of reaching speeds of 177 mph and her son's concerning speeding habits.
Mackrell's parents, Ann Vanker and Thad Mackrell, are trying to use the messages to prove that they knew how reckless Mackrell was being behind the wheel but failed to take appropriate action to stop their son from driving.
“She was sitting on a time bomb. She knew he was out of control, but she basically gave him a weapon,” Vanker told the outlet. “It's like she gave him an AR-15.”
Vanker said: tagNo one knew anything about her driving habits or home life until her son was killed and the investigation began.
Wanker said Elisabeth Puleo-Tague also owns a 2015 Subaru Forester but allowed her son to drive the Audi and then the BMW after warning her about speeding.
Investigators discovered that the serial reckless driver suspect and his mother had been arguing over text messages “regarding Keenan taking and using his mother's credit card without permission, being out at night without permission, and Keenan's reckless driving habits.”
“Messages between the two suggest Keenan's mother had little to no control over Keenan,” an investigator wrote in the report. Detroit Free Press.
“Kirnan regularly engaged in reckless driving and took and used his mother's credit cards without permission, despite repeated attempts by his mother to stop him.”
According to one text message exchange, on Oct. 2, 2023, she asked her son, who is under the age of 21, to “buy me a bottle of wine,” and he agreed despite being a minor.
Strangely, a week after asking him to pick up the booze, she reportedly sent him a screenshot of a website explaining the penalties for possessing a fake ID.
According to the outlet, two weeks before the fatal accident, an argument broke out between the mother and son over Tague breaking a table, after Tague had allegedly told her son not to use her car.
Investigators also found a 2020 police report alleging her son “assaulted her and fled the scene.”
According to reports, the boy, who was said to be unruly, was picked up at a friend's house and then exploded in anger at his mother.
“Keenan, who was in the front seat, turned around and began punching his mother (who was in the back seat) and then bit her hand.”
Target The man was arrested on domestic violence charges and was held at the Wayne County Juvenile Facility for an unknown period of time, the media outlet reported.
“The mother repeatedly told officers who responded to the scene that she was afraid of Kiernan,” investigators wrote in their report.
The boy's most recent contact with police prior to the accident was on Aug. 30, 2023, when police were called to Tagge's home because “the boy was screaming and throwing objects inside the home because his mother refused to obtain an American Express Gold Card.”
The Mackrell family plans to use knowledge of Tagg's past and the text messages his mother received admitting to her son speeding to use that evidence against Elizabeth Puleo Tagg as they did in the 2021 Oxford High School shooting where Ethan Crumbley killed four students.
The shooter's parents, James and Jennifer Crumbly, were the first parents to be convicted in a US school shooting and were each sentenced to at least 10 years in prison after a jury found they could have prevented their teenage son from acquiring a gun.
No charges have been filed against Elizabeth Puleo-Tague at this time.
He is currently facing a second-degree murder charge in the death of his friend. Target The defendants are being charged as “designated adults” rather than as adults, and if convicted, a judge may sentence them as adults or juveniles, or impose a mixed sentence.
“I want him to stay in prison as long as possible,” Ann Vanker said, arguing he deserves no leniency. “Why should he get a break? This boy deserves all the rest and privileges.”
The Post has reached out to the boy's lawyer for comment.
In Michigan, the maximum sentence for second-degree murder is life in prison.
Kiernan Target He is still waiting for a court date.
