Warren man pleads no contest to fatal hit-and-run crash that killed 14-year-old

A Warren man has pleaded no contest to charges related to a fatal hit-and-run crash in 2023 in Roseville, Michigan. 

Justin Spangle, 46, of Warren, submitted his plea on Tuesday, the day that his jury trial was scheduled to start in Macomb County Circuit Court, prosecutor Peter Lucido said. The plea was to all three pending charges: operating with a license suspended - causing death, tampering with evidence, and failure to stop at the scene of an accident resulting in serious injury or death. 

The crash happened about 4:25 a.m. on August 18, 2023, along the eastbound I-696 entrance ramp from Groesbeck. The victim, a 14-year-old boy with autism, had been reported missing a couple of hours earlier. 

Spangle is accused of striking the teen and then fleeing the scene, the prosecutor said.  

The teen died as a result of his injuries. 

Shortly after the crash, Spangle replaced his vehicle's cracked windshield, the prosecutor said. 

"This is a profoundly tragic case in which the defendant's allegedly foolish and unlawful conduct directly caused the death of a child," Lucido said. 

Sentencing is scheduled for June 23.