Palmyra man pleads guilty to causing crash that killed four

ADRIAN — Four times Thursday, a Palmyra man pleaded guilty to causing a crash that claimed the lives of a paving company’s work crew.

Matt Koester’s guilty pleas to four counts of attempted reckless driving causing death avoid a trial that had been scheduled to start June 22. A final pretrial hearing had been scheduled for June 10. It was rescheduled to June 11 as a plea hearing. Koester, 57, originally was charged with four counts of reckless driving causing death from the crash at 10:30 a.m. Sept. 4, 2023, at the intersection of Milwaukee Road and Britton Highway in Macon Township.

As Lenawee County Assistant Prosecutor Dave McCreedy established the factual basis for the plea, he asked Koester a series of questions about the crash. Koester agreed that he was speeding as he drove his Ford F250 pickup eastbound on Milwaukee Road and ran the stop sign at Britton Highway. As McCreedy asked Koester if his willful and wanton disregard for the safety of other people led to the death of the victims — Cole Weber, 23, of Hudson and Jaiden Taylor, 18, Robert Fox, 35, and Ryan Shirley, 33, all of Adrian — he paused between each name to allow Koester to answer “yes.”

Circuit Judge Anna Marie Anzalone accepted Koester’s pleas and scheduled sentencing for Aug. 28. Koester remains free on a $200,000 bond.

The maximum sentence for attempted reckless driving causing death is 15 years in prison and a fine between $2,500 and $10,000, which is the same as the original charge. After the hearing, McCreedy said the difference between the charges is in the sentencing guidelines calculation, with the reduced charges having a shorter minimum incarceration length.

There will be restitution that will be calculated before sentencing, McCreedy told the court.

In the case’s preliminary examination in Lenawee County District Court, a Michigan State Police traffic crash reconstructionist testified that his calculations showed Koester was traveling between 61 and 66 mph in his pickup when he drove through the stop sign at Britton Highway and collided with the K&B pickup that carried the four victims.

Koester also sustained serious injuries in the crash. An attorney who represented him early in the case’s proceedings told Lenawee County District Judge Laura J. Schaedler that Koester sustained a traumatic brain injury in the crash. After a forensic psychiatric evaluation, Schaedler found Koester was competent to stand trial.

Several relatives and friends of the victims were in the courtroom for Thursday’s hearing, as they have been throughout the case.