Michigan court upholds light sentence for woman who killed dad in dispute over ride

DETROIT (AP) — The Michigan Court of Appeals declined to overturn a light jail sentence for a young woman who killed her father by burning him with a dangerous powder when he couldn't drive her to a hair appointment before her 18th birthday party.

Megan Imirowicz, now 21, was sentenced to a year in jail in 2023. She was immediately released because she had already spent roughly 17 months in custody before trial and while awaiting her punishment.

Sentencing guidelines called for a minimum term of slightly more than four years in prison. But Oakland County Judge Victoria Valentine gave Imirowicz a break, noting her age, lack of maturity and likelihood of rehabilitation. Prosecutors objected.

“The trial court provided ample justification for the sentence imposed,” the appeals court said in a 3-0 opinion Tuesday.

Imirowicz was found guilty of the use of harmful devices/irritants causing death. She was upset with her father, Konrad Imirowicz, 64, because he was drunk and unable to drive her to an appointment before her birthday party in 2021, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said Megan Imirowicz threw lye, a chemical drain cleaner, on her father while he was sleeping, causing severe burns all over his body. He needed kidney dialysis, a tracheotomy and had both legs amputated before dying five months later.

“We acknowledge that the victim’s resulting injuries from the chemical burns, which ultimately led to his death, were severe; however, this fact alone does not demonstrate an abuse of discretion” by the judge at sentencing, the appeals court wrote.

At sentencing, Imirowicz said prosecutors “tried to make me look like a monster, but that’s not me and never was.”

She described her father as her “best friend.” Imirowicz is on probation until July 2028.