Two teenagers were killed in a tragic car crash on their way to prom after a reckless driver ignored repeated requests to slow down.
Kiea McCann, 17, and Dlava Mohamed, 16, were in a vehicle with family friend Anthony McGinn, 61, when the fatal collision occurred.
McGinn, behind the wheel of the car, was driving at high speeds when he ultimately lost control and veered off the road. Kiea and Dlava were both killed when the car slammed into a tree in County Monaghan, Ireland, in July 2023.
According to The Sun, the two teen girls were traveling to their formal – another term for high school prom – and should have enjoyed a night they would remember for the rest of their lives.
Instead, the evening would bring about the tragic end of their lives, following the aforementioned crash that played out after McGinn had been asked to slow down multiple times.
Both girls, as well as a friend sitting in the front passenger seat, Oisin Clerkin, had reportedly asked the driver to check his speed, but he ignored them.
Clerkin later revealed how frightened he had been as the vehicle sped through the country roads, telling the court that Kiea also appeared visibly scared. Prior to McGinn losing control of car it was said to be traveling at 94mph, almost twice the 50mph limit of the road in question.
Heartbreakingly, reports relay how the girls both died at the scene, side by side, holding hands.
Dlava’s sister, Avin, was also present in the car at the time of the crash. Such was the extent of her injuries that she didn’t even learn about her sister’s death for several months afterwards.
Avin also had to grapple with her perceived guilt associated to the fact that it was she who had invited Dlava to the prom. She was unable to remember much of the crash, having suffered serious memory loss related to the incident itself.
Earlier this year, in May, McGinn was sentenced to seven years in prison, having previously admitted dangerous driving causing the deaths of the teenagers.
Kiea’s mum, Teresa, said: “Seven years, that’s the justice here. Two beautiful girls. This is what we got today.
“There is no justice for this. My child’s life is gone and never coming back.”
During sentencing, the judge impressed upon the fact that McGinn, considered a family friend of the McCann family, had “shown an extraordinary breach of that trust”.
He said McGinn’s intention had been “to drive at a grossly excessive speed”, despite the fact that both Kiea and Dlava had repeatedly asked him to slow down.
During proceedings, the court also heard how Kiea’s father had arrived at the scene of the crash and carried out CPR on both Kiea and Dlava before emergency medical personnel arrived.
Rest in peace, Kiea McCann and Dlava Mohamed, two lives taken far too soon.