A man has been handed a 27-year sentence for killing a 69-year-old grandmother and her dog as well as the passenger of the car he was driving.
Vaughn Mongan, 45, blew past a stop sign and flew into a nearby house after pushing his car to 116 miles per hour, over three times the 30mph speed limit in the area.
Mongan pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular homicide and three counts of reckless driving with bodily injury before his sentencing.
The criminal complaint filed against Mongan claimed the man ignored the stop sign and the car hurtled off the residential street after hitting a grass embankment.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the Tesla then became airborne and flew over a vinyl fence into the back of a home, fatally injuring the owner.
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Donna Rein was declared dead at the scene and local reports said the woman’s dog, a 14-year-old Yorkshire Terrier, was also killed.
Authorities wrote in their report: “The Tesla continued through the residence crashing partially through the front of the residence.”
Following the accident, Sgt Steve Gaskins said: “It was airborne, and of course, it entered the entire house.
“It blew out the wall, blew out part of the roof, and again caused fatal injuries to the elderly woman inside.”
Car owner Travis Meisman died shortly after the crash after he was transported to the hospital. Fellow passengers Sean Donahue, Colin Keeler and Christopher French were all injured.
Rein’s family was forced to move into a hotel after the devastating accident that killed their mother left them virtually homeless.
Speaking to WFTS in 2021, daughter Amber Mooney said: “It’s been hell. Every day without her hurts more.
“It doesn’t get better. I’m waiting for her to call me. I’m waiting for her to text me.”
Sister Lindsay Jones said: “She was my constant. She was my rock, she was my everything.
“She affected so many people. Everyone she would meet would just be in awe of her. She was like a rock star.”
Jones said their mother had specifically retired to help her, a cancer survivor, care for her two daughters with special needs.
She said Rein would collect the girls from school every day and take them to doctor’s appointments: “She was there all day, every day just for us. She was the rock.”
Jones and her boyfriend were in the house when Mongan drove his friend’s car into it, but admitted it was “too hard” to discuss the incident.
Owner Meisman had only bought the Tesla hours before the incident. The family initially sued Mongan and Meisman’s estate, claiming he had allowed his friend to drive the car “in a careless, reckless, and/or negligent manner.”
Jones added: “I just think this was completely senseless. Careless, senseless. Completely ridiculous. Completely unnecessary. And my mom’s gone.”
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