Thomas Lee Meighan Jr. is scheduled for sentencing this afternoon in the 2009 hit-and-run death of a Johns Hopkins student and an unrelated hit and run that same year. Meighan, who's been arrested for drinking and driving at least nine times, pleaded guilty to multiple counts Tuesday — including vehicular manslaughter — in Baltimore City Circuit Court.
Meighan, 40, was
in the crash that killed Miriam Frankl, including automobile manslaughter, which would have required the state to show that he had a wanton and reckless disregard for human life — a difficult standard to prove, lawyers said.
A half-dozen witnesses told police that the driver of Meighan's white truck took a terrifying trip through the city before striking Frankl about 3:20 p.m. on Oct. 16, 2009. The truck was spotted running red lights, tailgating other drivers and going the wrong way on a one-way street. At one point, the driver, identified by police as Meighan, got out to urinate alongside the vehicle while parked on Eastern Avenue.