Kenneth White, a 32-year-old father-of-four, was tragically killed when five teens threw a twenty-pound rock at his car. It smashed through his windshield, hitting him in the head, causing multiple fractures and extensive blunt-force trauma, leaving him unconscious. He was rushed to Hurley Medical Center and later died, leaving four children and his fiancé behind. A man from Ann Arbor narrowly escaped the same incident minutes before White was killed as well.

Dinging

The teen boys who were held responsible are Kyle Anger, 17, Mikadyn Payne, 15, Alexander Miller, 15, Mark Sekelsky, 15, and Trevor Gray, 15, who were charged with 2nd-degree murder. The boys had been throwing rocks at cars as they hung out on the overpass.

It is estimated that they threw at least twenty large rocks off of the interstate overpass before hitting White’s vehicle as he was Coming Home from work. Four other car owners reported damage to their vehicles after passing under the overpass.

When asked for an explanation, they replied by telling the investigators that they had been playing a game called “dinging” which is where you drop rocks on cars to hear them “ding."

The response to the senseless crime

Kenneth's fiance finally spoke about the crime that made her 5-year-old son fatherless, confirming that she just broke the news to the small boy. She went on to say that just because it was a harmless Prank, doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t answer for what they did.

Many others agree with this, including the police. No matter how innocent the prank was, they knew what they had done when it happened. They also knew they had caused a major accident, but they did nothing. After they were through throwing rocks at the cars, they went to McDonald's to get a bite to eat. This shows how little remorse that they have, not only for endangering the public, but for Kenneth's life and the ones he left.

Life behind bars

The boys could be facing life in prison, but that seems like such a small victory to the ones who knew and loved Kenneth White. Unfortunately, it will not bring him back. They might have been joking around, but this is a serious issue that needs to be addressed.

Many children do this same thing and think that it’s fine and parents ignore it, but after this incident, it drives home that even a little prank can tragically end someone’s life. There is no word as to when White’s funeral is or when sentencing is for the boys.