A Wayne County jury has delivered a guilty verdict to Jacob Mraulak, a Romulus man associated with a tragic crash that occurred last year, resulting in the demise of Vivian Carmody and leaving her husband, Eastern Market CEO Dan Carmody, with serious injuries. According to WWJ Newsradio, the accident took place on August 18, 2023, and Mraulak was operating a vehicle under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
The report from WWJ Newsradio states that Mraulak, now convicted on multiple counts, faces the possibility to spend well over 15 years in prison. The counts include operating a vehicle under the influence causing death, and reckless driving causing death among others.
Details from the scene suggest Mraulak was traveling in the wrong direction on Lafayette Street and proceeded to careen up onto the sidewalk, striking the Carmodys. In a shocking turn of events police said that the driver was overdosing and had to be administered Narcan to save his life, as reported by WWJ Newsradio. Vivian Carmody succumbed to her injuries at the hospital, while her husband, Dan Carmody, underwent surgery for his injuries.
The legal outcome has prompted Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy to reiterate a stark message, as she told the Detroit Free Press, "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." She added, "Criminal traffic tragedies do not just happen. There is a reason for them, and criminal consequences attach including, possibly, a loss of freedom." Mraulak's sentencing is scheduled for October 18.
