A Michigan teenager who was convicted of throwing lye on her sleeping father — a tantrum that led to “extensive chemical burns” before he died six months later of his injuries — was set free on Wednesday after being sentenced to just one year in prison with credit for time served.
According to Court TV, Megan Imirowicz was eating McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets and French fries on Wednesday after spending 506 days in the Oakland County Jail in Groveland Township, Mich., for the March 2022 death of her father.
She was found guilty last month of “unlawful use of a chemical irritant causing death.”
Court TV explains:
Under Michigan sentencing guidelines, Imirowicz was facing between 51 (4.25 years) and 85 months (7 years).
Prosecutor Jason DeSantis argued for the top of the range, declaring that Imirowicz willfully threw lye on her sleeping father, causing extensive chemical burns that required his feet and part of his leg to be amputated. Konrad Imirowicz never recovered from his injuries and died six months after the attack.Â
In addition to the time she has already served behind bars, Imirowicz received five years of “strict probation restrictions” and will have to enter into an “education program,” the Dail Mail reports.
Imirowicz’s mother, Julie Conrad, told Judge Victoria Valentine prior to sentencing that the investigation didn’t add up, Court TV notes.
“Two plus two just does not equal four,” Conrad said in her bid for mercy. “Losing Megan, not being able to look her straight in the eye or to hug her is a mother’s nightmare. Megan tried multiple times to reach out to her father and was prevented.”
“We were a broken family before this began and now, we are even more broken, while her (Megan) age and her body is 19 years old,” Conrad said. “Her maturity and emotional level are not that of an adult.”
According to the Daily Mail, Imorwicz was angry at her father “because he was too drunk to take her to a hair appointment.”
But the sobbing teen told Judge Valentine that she considered herself lucky to have had Konrad for a father.
(Video: YouTube)
“Nineteen years ago, I was placed into the arms of the first man to ever love me, the man I’m lucky enough to call my dad. Growing up he became so much more, he was a storyteller, a tooth fairy, a friend, and hero, through it all the one thing never changed, was that he was mine,” she told Valentine prior to sentencing. “One of the biggest things overlooked in this case is that me and my siblings lost my dad too. That loss has severely broken us.”
The teen told the judge that she is struggling to cope with her loss and battles thoughts of self-harm.
“I get scared that he thinks I didn’t love him,” she said through tears. “He told me so many things, one thing he didn’t tell me was how to live without him.”
“Imirowicz rejected the State’s portrayal of her as a monster. She denied throwing lye at her father and said she had thrown some bread at him to wake him up,” Court TV reports. “She admitted lying to cover up the fact that her father was an alcoholic, and she said it was easier to lie than to admit that her father was so often drunk he would relieve himself in bags that were left on the floor.”
“The prosecution’s job is to make me look bad,” she argued, but, in truth, she took care of her father and threw her brother surprise birthday parties so he would know his sister loved him.
She then asked Judge Valentine to help her to get a college degree in marine biology so she could rehabilitate marine life and set up programs aimed at helping children with depression.
“I want to change the world,” she said. “I’m asking you to help me accomplish my dreams. I’m not a threat to society, but an asset for the future.”
(Video: YouTube)
It was a moving appeal to Valentine’s sense of mercy — one which Imirowicz admitted she had help writing.
Jennifer Crumbley, a fellow inmate who was charged with involuntary manslaughter after her son confessed to carrying out a mass shooting at a Michigan high school with a gun his parents bought him, gave the teen some advice.
“She told me to write what’s in my heart,” Imirowicz said.
Upon her release, Imirowicz said she is “really happy I get to go home with my family. I’m excited.”
“I was praying for a miracle today,” she stated, “and that’s what I got.”
Still, she’s not quite up to dealing with her feelings about her father.
“I’m scared to feel anything about my dad right now,” she said, according to Court TV. “I miss him a lot. I’m not ready.”
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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