Man sentenced for fatal crash
A 21-year-old man apologized Wednesday for causing a deadly 2016 crash while fleeing police in a stolen car.
“I take full responsibility,” Maurice Deangelo Fisher told an Oklahoma County judge during his sentencing over the death of his passenger. “I have to live with that.”
Fisher turned to the victim’s family in the courtroom and said, “I am sorry.” He then wiped tears from his eyes.
Fisher, of Oklahoma City, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Deastani Mitchell.
As part of a plea agreement, Fisher was sentenced to 12 years in prison followed by 10 years probation. Mitchell’s family OK’d the plea deal.
At the time of the Oct. 14, 2016, wreck, Fisher, the driver, and Mitchell, his passenger, both were 19. They were described as friends. Fisher was giving Mitchell a ride when he decided to run from Warr Acres police, according to prosecutors.
“I hope his apology is sincere because that’s what I’ve been waiting on,” the victim’s mother, Bernice Mitchell, said after the sentencing.
During the sentencing, Assistant District Attorney Kirk Martin read three letters written by the victim’s relatives.
In the first letter, the victim’s grandmother called Deastani Mitchell’s personality “fun and happy.”
“She was full of life,” Lenora Mitchell wrote. “I struggle each and every day with the loss of my grandbaby.”
The grandmother questioned, “Why did God choose her?”
“My life will never be the same without her,” she wrote.
In the second letter, Deastani Mitchell’s sister stated she lost her “very best friend.”
“I feel like she was robbed of life,” Gabre’elle Mitchell wrote.
In the last letter, the victim’s godmother stated she will miss Deastani Mitchell’s laugh.
“This crime has affected our family deeply,” Toni Russell wrote. “When thinking of her, tears fill our lives. ... We don’t feel whole.”
The victim called Russell her “second mom.”
Fisher hung his head while the prosecutor read the letters to District Judge Michele McElwee.
The crash
Early Oct. 14, 2016, a Warr Acres police officer noticed a 2016 Ford Taurus on Northwest Expressway with its bright headlights on. The officer flashed for the vehicle to dim its lights and when it did not, the officer got behind the car and ran the tag. The vehicle came up stolen out of Oklahoma City, police reported.
When officers attempted a traffic stop, the car attempted to elude police at speeds exceeding 100 mph, passing other vehicles and running red lights, police reported. The car ultimately crashed into a pole and tree after failing to navigate a turn at the intersection of NW 63 and Lyrewood Lane in Oklahoma City.
Fisher, Mitchell and another passenger were not wearing seat belts, police reported. Mitchell suffered critical injuries and later died on Jan. 26, 2017. She was 20.
Fisher also pleaded guilty to attempting to elude a police officer, unauthorized use of a vehicle and two counts of causing an accident without a valid driver’s license.