A Detroit man was sentenced to 100 months to 15 years in prison on Thursday for a drunk-driving crash that killed 27-year-old El'Verson Mitchell, a Counseling and Psychological Services clinician at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, as he drove home from work just before the new year.
Torrance Irby's black 2019 Ram ProMaster 3500 van rear-ended Mitchell's green 2019 Ford Mustang on Dec. 29, 2025, pushing it into a black 2010 Ford Transit Connect van that was also stopped at a turnaround signal on westbound Metropolitan Parkway near Groesbeck Highway, according to CBS News Detroit. The crash happened just after 8 p.m., as reported by WDIV Local 4.
The driver of the Ford Transit Connect got out of his vehicle to render aid and found Mitchell unresponsive inside the Mustang, per the same CBS News Detroit account. MedStar Ambulance rushed Mitchell to McLaren Macomb Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Irby and a passenger in his van fled the scene on foot before first responders arrived, but Clinton Township police located both men nearby and brought them to the same hospital for medical treatment.
From Arraignment to a No-Contest Plea
Irby was arraigned January 1 in Clinton Township's 41B District Court before Magistrate Ryan Zemke on charges of OWI causing death and failure to stop at the scene of a fatal accident, with bond set at $250,000 cash or surety. Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido condemned impaired driving at the time as an “entirely preventable act” that inflicted an “immeasurable” loss on Mitchell's family. Irby pleaded no contest in June before being sentenced this week.
Under Michigan law, Operating While Intoxicated Causing Death is a felony carrying a maximum statutory penalty of 15 years in prison, mandatory driver's license revocation, and fines between $2,500 and $10,000, a framework Hoodline has detailed in prior Macomb County OWI cases. Irby's 100-month minimum falls well within that range, and his sentence marks the resolution of a case Lucido's office pursued aggressively from the start.
A Clinician Remembered on Campus
Mitchell served as a liaison supporting student-athletes through CAPS at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, according to the university. He was known for encouraging students to prioritize essential life values, and in April the university's CAPS office established an endowed memorial scholarship in his name to preserve that legacy.
A Corridor With a History
The stretch of Metropolitan Parkway near Groesbeck Highway has seen repeated deadly crashes. Just three months after Mitchell's death, another fatal collision at the same intersection killed a 9-year-old child, Hoodline previously reported, and residents have repeatedly raised safety concerns about the corridor. Irby's case also fits a broader pattern: Macomb County law enforcement and prosecutors handled a string of felony OWI-causing-death cases throughout 2026, reflecting a sustained regional focus on fatal impaired-driving crashes.
