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Newark Advocate
December 4, 2014
By all accounts, 18-year-old Danielle Michaels was the kind of person people wanted to befriend. She liked people for who they were and volunteered with children who had special needs.
On Nov. 16, 2013, Michaels even paid to fill up the gas tank of the teenager who only hours later would kill her.
Adrian McGee, 18, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison Tuesday by Licking County Judge David Branstool after McGee admitted to killing Michaels.
McGee had originally been charged as a juvenile because he was 17 at the time of the murder, but the case was transferred to Common Pleas Court.
“Dani believed Adrian was her friend,” Michaels’ grandmother said in court Tuesday. “How wrong she was.”
According to police, Michaels was driven to the Summit School campus in Reynoldsburg on Nov. 16, 2013 by McGee. What happened in a wooded area near a baseball field is not known for certain, but prosecutors and police say Michaels was likely sexually assaulted and stripped of her clothing, except for a single sock, before being stabbed in the neck.
Assistant Licking County Prosecutor Brian Waltz said in a statement of facts read in court Michaels tried to run away or was dragged to another location where she was likely asphyxiated, or choked to death before other stab wounds were inflicted on her body by McGee.
Her body was found nearly two days later, on Nov. 18, 2013, by a person walking their dog near the school. A knife with Michaels’ blood on it was found in McGee’s home.
An autopsy revealed the first stab wound to the neck was not a fatal injury and Michaels might have lived if she received medical attention. That fact brings even more heartache to Michaels’ family.
“He had the audacity to stay and watch her die,” Michaels’ grandmother said.
McGee showed little emotion as Michaels’ grandmother read a prepared statement to Branstool. She described a bubbly teenager who liked monkeys and butterflies and was a swimmer and poet. She talked about Michaels’ smile, which lit up any room she was in.
She also spoke about Michaels’ height, about 5-feet-1-inch tall, and how she never stood a chance of defending herself against the 6-feet-4-inches tall McGee.
Michaels’ grandfather read a statement written by one of Michaels’ cousins. The statement said some family members found out that Michaels’ body had been found by seeing the news on television.
“She was killed in a way adjectives can’t even define,” he read. “A man with such a lack of morals shouldn’t be a part of society.”
Michaels’ grandfather also spoke about how Michaels had planned to start a daycare with her mother after her graduation from high school and wanted to work with children for a career.
Assistant Licking County Prosecutor Brian Waltz said the tragedy in this case, of a life being taken away so young, could not be healed completely with anything the justice system could do.
“There isn’t any sentence that will give relief to those hurt,” he said.
McGee spoke briefly, telling Branstool in a choked up voice he was “truly sorry” for what had happened. He called Michaels a friend.
“I want to apologize to her family for their loss and apologize to my family that I won’t be there for years to come,” he said.
Michaels’ family said they do not want to know any more specifics of what happened in the woods on Nov. 16, 2013.
“We don’t want to know every detail … what we do know haunts us,” her grandmother said. “The havoc you perpetuated will echo for eons.”
The family was also strongly affected by learning that McGee had gone to a restaurant and store to eat dinner and shop after the murder occurred.
McGee was found guilty of aggravated murder, murder, kidnapping and tampering with evidence. A rape charge that was filed against him was dismissed.
Waltz said the rape count would not have affected the sentence and making the plea deal allowed Michaels’ family to have closure and finality in the case without changing the sentence.
He said he believed the rape count would have been proven had the case gone to trial.
McGee will be eligible to apply for parole in 2038.
