MILL CREEK CRASH Driver faces six charges

The defendant could waive a preliminary hearing, the city prosecutor said.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- In a rare move, a Mahoning County grand jury will again likely consider charges against Christiaen A. Lively, the Cardinal Mooney High School senior whose three friends died after his speeding car crashed in Mill Creek Park.
City Prosecutor Dionne M. Almasy had recommended last month that the case be presented directly to the grand jury, which eliminated the need for charges to be filed in municipal court. A grand jury considered the case against Lively, 18, of Parkwood Avenue, but declined to indict him. Afterward, county Prosecutor Paul J. Gains said Lively could face misdemeanor charges.
Tuesday afternoon, however, Almasy filed six felony charges against Lively -- three aggravated vehicular homicide and three aggravated vehicular assault. She said he could be arraigned as early as today in municipal court.
Once Lively is arraigned, Judge Elizabeth A. Kobly will schedule the case for a preliminary hearing. At the hearing, witnesses, such as the three passengers who survived, could be called to testify.
After the testimony, Judge Kobly will decide whether the case should be sent to a grand jury.
If Lively chooses, his lawyer can waive the hearing and have the case bound over to a grand jury.
Victims
Lively was injured in the March 27 one-car crash. Three passengers were killed: Anthony C. Childs, 18, of East Dewey Avenue, and Isiah M. Thomas, 16, of St. Louis Avenue, both Mooney students; and Amanda M. Ferraro, 16, of New Road, Austintown, a student at Fitch High School. Injured but home now are Lia Kovalchik, 16, and her sister, Karla Kovalchik, 14, both of Sandburg Drive, Austintown. Treated after the crash was Colleen E. Casey, 17, of Sandburg Drive.
Speed, not alcohol or drugs, was a factor. Lively's 1992 Chevrolet Lumina was traveling about 57 mph on West Cohasset Drive when it rammed head-on into boulders that line Axe Factory Run bridge. The posted speed limit is 25 mph.
Gains has said the grand jury declined to indict Lively on charges of aggravated vehicular homicide last month because there was no evidence that alcohol or drugs were involved, which he said would be necessary to prove felony charges.
Almasy, though, has said that reckless driving can be considered for felony charges.
The city prosecutor has pointed out that passengers in the car had asked Lively to slow down, but he failed to heed the warning. He was also speeding in the dark park down a winding road into a bend and had more passengers than the car could safely accommodate.
meade@vindy.com