A jury found Jacob Mraulak guilty on all counts stemming from a crash that killed Vivian Carmody and injured her husband, Eastern Market CEO Dan Carmody, as they walked to dinner last year on Detroit’s east side.
The Romulus man — who was charged with four crimes, including operating while intoxicated causing death, reckless driving causing death and reckless driving causing serious injury — faces prison time and is set to be sentenced Oct. 18.
Mraulak, who was 28 at the time, was driving against traffic on East Lafayette near St. Aubin on Aug. 18, 2023. He veered onto the sidewalk and struck the couple, who were both in their late 60s. Medics rushed them to a hospital. Vivian Carmody later died, and Dan Carmody underwent surgery on his leg and ankle.
Earlier this year, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow invited Carmody to be her guest for the State of the Union.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy made good on earlier statements.
When Mraulak was charged, she warned all drivers: “This is a harsh fact: Every time you get behind the wheel of a car, you should be acutely aware that you are potentially driving an instrumentality of death. Traffic accidents happen.”
But, she also emphasized the dire results of breaking the law while behind the wheel.
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“Criminal traffic tragedies do not just happen,” she said, after detailing the circumstances behind last year’s tragic crash in Detroit. “There is a reason for them, and criminal consequences attach including, possibly, a loss of freedom.”
Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.