Jury finds former MSU men's basketball strength coach Todd Moyer guilty of causing 2 deaths in 2017 crash

MONROE - A former Michigan State University strength and conditioning coach was convicted on two felony counts Friday in connection with a crash that killed a mother and daughter last summer in southeast Michigan.

A jury in Monroe County Circuit Court deliberated about four hours after a four-day trial before finding Todd Moyer, of Holt, guilty on two counts of reckless driving causing death. 

Moyer, 38, worked with the men's basketball team at MSU. He  had been suspended from his position shortly after charges were filed in November. His contract ended on June 30 and he is no longer employed by MSU, according to Matt Larson,  a spokesman for the MSU Athletics Department.

Moyer's salary was $99,809, Larson said.

Moyer faces a maximum sentence of up to 15 years in prison. Monroe County Circuit Judge Judge Michael A. Weipert allowed him to remain free on bond pending an Aug. 30 sentencing hearing but added additional bond conditions, including a 10 p.m. curfew.

Weipert also said Moyer will be allowed to travel to Ohio, where he has relatives.

Police said Moyer was driving south on U.S. 23 near Dundee on July 14, 2017 when his pickup truck rear-ended a car in a construction zone, killing Gladys Johnson, 35, and her 5-year-old daughter, Za'Kira, both of Redford.

Moyer's truck was moving about 78 mph in an area where traffic was merging from two lanes into a single lane because of road work, authorities said.

Prosecutors said Moyer was texting on his cell phone in the minutes leading up to the crash, which happened about 2:20 p.m.

Data extracted from Moyer's cell phone shows he made 38 "computer-style operations" on his phone during the hour leading up to the crash, prosecutors said. Besides reading and sending text messages, he did internet searches, sent links and deleted a photo, Chief Assistant Monroe County Prosecutor Michael Roehrig said.

Moyer texted a link to an Ohio strip club's website moments before the crash, and the data indicates he was reading texts up until the time of the crash, according to prosecutors.

A few minutes after the crash, Moyer texted that he wouldn't make it to his destination, according to testimony. His next message said, "Omg, I'm f----, Two ppl killed." 

Moyer acknowledged to a deputy that he had been texting, Roehrig said.

"We thought there was reasonable doubt, and we're devastated," said Michael Nichols, one of Moyer's attorneys. "The Moyer family is grieving for the Johnson family and now for the forthcoming loss of Todd, who will go to prison for several years."

Moyer's legal team called two witnesses, including another driver who gave a different account of the crash than other witnesses.

Harold Moskowitz, a semi-retired teacher who was following behind Moyer's vehicle, testified that Moyer was driving normally before the crash. He said another driver passed a line of cars in the right lane and cut in front of Johnson's vehicle as the freeway was narrowing, causing Johnson's vehicle to collide with his.

The other defense witness was a digital forensics expert who disputed the prosecution's contention that Moyer was actively using his phone in the seconds before the crash, That expert was able to break down phone usage to the second, while police could only present it to the minute, Nichols said.

"We were the ones laying it all out and giving the full picture to the jury," he said. "It sounded like the jury was way too much concerned about the (total) amount of cell phone use, whether it was seconds before the accident or minutes and hours before the accident."

Roehrig said Moskowitz's account was inconsistent with "all of the other evidence in the case." He said he hopes the case serves as a reminder that distracted driving can have tragic results.

"If we can save even one life, then this will be a little bit of consolation to this family who lost two loved ones, never to return," he said.

Contact Ken Palmer at (517) 377-1032 or kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj. Sarah Lehr contributed reporting.