Man sentenced for crash that killed former U of D administrator Mary Lackamp

Howard was speeding, fleeing the police

A Florida man was sentenced Tuesday for killing a former University of Detroit administrator in a car crash while fleeing police.

On Nov. 1, Oakland County Circuit Judge ordered Harris Howard, 29, to spend 14 — 50 years for the second-degree homicide of Mary Lackamp, 89, who died Feb. 14, 2020. Howard pleaded no contest to the charge in September, a week before his trial was scheduled to start.

Howard was fleeing police in a Nissan Pathfinder when he struck an SUV near Eight Mile and Wyoming roads, according to prosecutors. Lackamp was a passenger in the SUV and died three days later from injuries she suffered in the collision.

Lackamp, a former administrator at University of Detroit Jesuit High School, was reportedly on her way home from a basketball game at the school, traveling with an art teacher from the school and the teacher’s husband.

Police said Howard was driving 70 mph in a 40 mph zone just before the crash, and officers attempted to pull him over. Howard reportedly slowed down and activated his vehicle’s emergency flashers, but then sped off. With officers in pursuit, Howard ran a red light less than a minute later and crashed into the SUV.

Along with the murder charge, Howard had been charged with two felony counts of fleeing and eluding police. As part of a plea deal, the prosecution dropped those charges and decided against seeking an enhanced sentence for Howard as a habitual offender. Howard has multiple felony convictions in four other states, mostly for theft, and resisting and obstructing police, and was wanted in Texas for an outstanding drug charge, police said. He was released from a Pennsylvania prison a few months before the deadly crash.

As of his sentencing date, Howard had 991 days jail credit.