Tad Davis charged with DWI murder of teen from Sterling Heights Mich. Photo courtesy of ClickonDetroit.

Warren firefighter charged with murder in crash that killed Sterling Heights teen

From Mlive.com

STERLING HEIGHTS, MI — Macomb County Prosecutor Eric B. Smith says Warren Firefighter Tad A. Davis knows the devastation of drunk driving, which is why what he’s accused of is so surprising.

Davis, a 15-year veteran of the Warren Fire Department, is being charged with second-degree murder, punishable by up to life in prison; and operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing death, punishable by up to 15 years in prison, for the Sept. 11 crash that killed Adlai E. Stevenson High School graduate 17-year-old Diana Pozderca. She would have turned 18 in October.

Diane Pozderca killed by DWI firefighter Tad Davis

The crash occurred about 9 p.m. near Plumbrook and Plainview in Sterling Heights.

Smith said Davis was driving, using “conservative” estimates, about 70 mph in a 35 mph residential zone, had a blood-alcohol level near twice the legal limit of .08 percent and never hit the brakes before crossing the media and slamming head-on into the teen’s 2001 Mercury Sable.

Macomb County Prosecutor Eric J. Smith

“The poor girl never had a chance,” Smith said at a press conference Tuesday. “This defendant took all the joy away from this family.”

Both Davis and Pozderca were within blocks of their homes. Pozderca was returning from a friend’s house was about to be surprised with a brand-new Ford Fusion her parents had purchased her to drive to Michigan State University for a visit with her brother and a Spartans football game the following day, Smith said.

A makeshift memorial came together along Plumbrook Road at the site of the accident where 17 year old Diana Pozderca was killed. (File photo by Ray Skowronek – Macomb Daily)

The prosecutor, a father of three, said: “Let’s make it clear, I have no sympathy for this defendant whatsoever.”

He will ask the judge to deny bond when Davis is arraigned, likely Tuesday afternoon.

Davis, who was critically injured and is using a wheelchair, was booked at the Sterling Heights Police Department Tuesday morning.

A representative at the Warren Fire Department said no one was available to confirm his employment status. A message was left for the fire commissioner seeking that information.

When asked why it took over two months before charges were issued, Smith attributed the lag to a “complicated investigation.”

He said the devastation was so great the black boxes of both vehicles — which track metrics such as speed and braking — were damaged to an extent they couldn’t be analyzed.   ...MORE