MAHONING COUNTY Driver found guilty in deaths

The teenager has to speak to high school students about driving safely.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Christiaen A. Lively, found guilty of vehicular homicide in the deaths of three teenage friends in Mill Creek Park, likely will spend no time in jail.
Lively, 18, of Parkwood Avenue, pleaded no contest Friday in municipal court to three counts of vehicular homicide. The charges carry a penalty of up to 90 days in jail and $750 fine on each.
Judge Robert Milich handed down:
U90 days in jail on each count. The days run concurrent. Lively may serve the time on electronically monitored house arrest.
UWork and school privileges, meaning he can leave home to attend school or work. He must maintain either school or work full time.
UA $500 fine.
UFive years' probation.
U100 hours of community service. The time will be spent speaking to high school students about driving safely.
UDriver's license suspension for two years.
No felonies
Felony charges against Lively were rejected -- twice -- by Mahoning County grand juries.
In late April, the case bypassed municipal court and was directly presented to a grand jury, which declined to indict on felony charges of aggravated vehicular homicide.
In May, city Prosecutor Dionne M. Almasy then filed three counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and two counts of aggravated vehicular assault. The March crash resulted in three deaths and two serious injuries.
After a preliminary hearing in municipal court, Judge Elizabeth A. Kobly found probable cause that he committed the five felony crimes charged and bound the case over to Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
In mid-June, a new grand jury considered the case and also declined to indict Lively.
Almasy filed the three misdemeanor charges in July. Within the vehicular manslaughter law is failure to control.
"He failed to control and caused three deaths," the prosecutor said in July. "Speed is the reason he failed to control."
What happened
Investigators determined that Lively's 1992 Chevrolet Lumina was traveling around 57 mph on West Cohasset Drive when it rammed head-on into boulders that line the Axe Factory Run bridge at 11:40 p.m. March 27. The posted speed is 25 mph.
No brakes were applied before the car hit the bridge boulders, Detective Sgt. Patricia Garcar, an accident reconstructionist, testified at the preliminary hearing in May. If Lively had attempted to brake, the tires would have left skid marks, she said.
Once Lively's car started a side to side motion, he had no steering control, Garcar testified. She did tests on the road to determine the speed.
Killed in the crash were Anthony C. Childs, 18, of East Dewey Avenue and Isiah M. Thomas, 16, of St. Louis Avenue, both Cardinal Mooney High School students, and Amanda M. Ferraro, 16, of New Road, Austintown, a student at Fitch High School.
Sisters Lia Kovalchik, 16, and Karla Kovalchik, 14, of Austintown were seriously injured. Colleen Casey, 17, also of Austintown, suffered small cuts.
While Childs encouraged Lively to "put the pedal to the metal," others in the car asked him to slow down, according to court testimony.
Lively pulled Childs, killed on impact, and the Kovalchik sisters out the driver's side rear door so that Casey, whose rear passenger door wouldn't open, could get out. Ferraro and Thomas, also killed on impact, were in the front seat.