An Orange County mother — who’s facing a manslaughter charge — broke her silence after her teen son allegedly struck and killed an 81-year-old veteran while illegally riding an electric motorcycle.
Following her arraignment in court on Tuesday, Tommi Jo Mejer, 50, — through her attorney’s Lolita Kirk and Paul S. Meyer — said that she’s devastated over what has happened in Lake Forest in April.
“Tommi Mejer is anguished over the terrible accident,” the statement to The Post from the defense attorney’s read. “She sends her deepest condolences and sorrow over this tragedy.”
“This has been devastating for everyone. It is premature to make any other statement.”
Mejer did not enter a plea to the charges she’s facing for allowing her teen son to illegally ride the electric motorcycle that ended up fatally killing Ed Ashman.
Authorities say the crash was preventable and that Mejer had been explicitly warned about her son’s dangerous driving behavior before the veteran was hit and ultimately died two weeks after the accident.
“This mother essentially handed her 14-year-old son a deadly weapon, and despite multiple warnings of the dangers, continued to let him illegally ride E-Motorcycle until he finally killed someone,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said.
Mejer is facing several charges including one felony count of involuntary manslaughter and one felony count of child endangerment. She’s also been charged with one misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, loaning a motor vehicle to an unlicensed driver, and providing false information to a peace officer.
On April 16, Ashman was walking across the street headed home from his job as a substitute teacher at El Toro High School when he was struck by the teen, per the DA.
Investigators say Mejer’s 14-year-old son was riding a Surron Ultra Bee electric motorcycle in the street and “doing wheelies” when he slammed into Ashman, leaving him with catastrophic injuries. The teen allegedly fled the scene.
Ashman was later identified as a retired captain in the United States Marine Corps who flew combat missions in Vietnam.
According to authorities, body-worn camera footage shows Mejer repeatedly telling Orange County Sheriff Deputies after the crash that neither her son or herself owned a Surron nor did they have access to one, per the DA.
She was later arrested on April 21.
Months before the incident, Mejer contacted the sheriff’s office to complain about a neighbor posting photos of her son riding the e-motorcycle, according to prosecutors.
During a roughly 30-minute interaction captured on body camera, deputies told her the vehicle was illegal for her son to operate and warned she could face criminal charges if she allowed it to continue. Investigators say she acknowledged both the risks and illegality.
The E-bike is classified as an off-road E-motorcycle capable of going nearly 60 miles per hour, with the capability of accelerating from 0-31 miles per hour in 2.3 seconds, per the DA.
The bike is classified as a motorcycle under California law and a rider must be 16-years-old with a license, registration and insurance.
“If parents aren’t going to hold their children accountable, then I am going to hold parents accountable for hurting and killing innocent people while riding illegal motor vehicles,” the DA said.
The case marks at least the third time this year that an Orange County parent has been charged for allowing a child to illegally operate an e-motorcycle, per the DA.
Mejer’s arraignment was continued until June. If convicted, she could face a maximum sentence of seven years and eight months in state prison.
The post OC mom charged with manslaughter after teen son kills Vietnam vet breaks silence appeared first on New York Post.
