Criminal Justice
Judge orders defendant to tell truth on social media after she blamed victim for car crash
A judge has ordered a North Carolina woman to correct the record and take responsibility online for a car crash that killed the other driver.
Judge Lou Trosch of the 26th Judicial District in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, sentenced the woman, Breeana McClain of Charlotte, North Carolina, to probation without a driver’s license and imposed a suspended sentence last week, along with the extra conditions. She had pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and had already spent 51 days in jail.
“I am going to order, as part of her judgment, that she demonstrates to you all on Facebook, on social media, on her GoFundMe page, that she takes responsibility for what she did,” Trosch said, according to reporting by WCNC. Trosch also ordered McClain to tell her story in traffic school.
Other publications with coverage include the Charlotte Observer, WBTV and WCCB.
McClain had falsely claimed on Facebook and GoFundMe that she was the car crash victim, and she needed money to buy a new car, according to the Charlotte Observer.
“Help Breeana recover from near death car crash,” said McClain’s GoFundMe page, which sought $2,800 in donations.
In reality, prosecutors said, McClain caused the May 2020 head-on collision when she used the shoulder to pass someone while speeding, swerved to avoid hitting a guardrail, lost control of her car, went over the median, and crossed at least three lanes of traffic.
The other driver, 18-year-old Morgan Wetherbee, died in an Atlanta medical facility seven months after the crash, according to the Charlotte Observer. Wetherbee had undergone about 30 surgeries.
McClain apologized during the sentencing hearing.
“I’m truly sorry from the bottom of my heart,” McClain said. “I know life will never be the same without Morgan.”
McClain posted this Facebook message Saturday: “In reference to the previous post that I Breeana McClain claimed that I was the victim in the car accident that took the life of Morgan Weatherbee [sic] she was the victim I sincerely apologize for the post that was very insensitive and disrespectful and I am sincerely sorry for the family of Morgan for their loss.”
