CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Thursday was an emotional day in court as a Charlotte area family faced the driver who caused the crash that killed their 18-year-old daughter and sister, Morgan Wetherbee, in May 2020.
Wetherbee fought for seven months and later died from a traumatic brain injury because of the crash. The driver, Breeana McClain, admitted guilt and apologized when taking a plea deal.
In the end, Judge Louis Trosch accepted the deal, but he was left nearly speechless and had to leave the courtroom at one point. McClain will not serve any additional jail time. She was in custody for 51 days already, but she will be on probation for three years, will not have a driver's license, has to share her story in traffic school and has to correct false information she posted on social media after the crash.
CMPD said McClain was weaving in and out of traffic, driving 30 mph over the speed limit, and crossing four lanes of traffic when she hit Wetherbee. The crash happened on Tryon Street in the University area, not far from the Charlotte Motor Speedway.
“There are no words to express the pain that you all must be going through. There hasn’t been one day since that tragedy that I haven’t thought about what I could’ve done to change the circumstances or the outcome. I am truly sorry from the bottom of my heart. I know life will never be the same without Morgan,” McClain said through tears in court.
Wetherbee’s family said this is the first apology they’d heard. They said after the crash, McClain acted as if she were the victim. Posting pictures of Wetherbee’s car on social media as if it were her own, asking for money on a GoFundMe site.
That forced the judge out of the courtroom. As he left he told McClain “this may make things better or it may make it worse.”
When he returned, he added two conditions to her plea deal. While on probation, she must share her story as a warning in traffic school and right the wrong she shared on social media.
“What you did on Facebook was intentional. That was thought out," Trosch said. "You need to make it right. So, madam probation officer, I am going to order as part of her judgment that she demonstrates to you all on Facebook, on social media on her GoFundMe page that she takes responsibility for what she did,” Trosch said.
Wetherbee’s family was happy about that condition.
“I think it’s actually very important that she clears that up with not only us but everybody that she told that she was a victim," Katie Wetherbee, Morgan's sister, said. "I think admitting that is a happy thing for us because it’s one of the main things we wanted. But there will never be a sentence long enough for us to get over it."
McClain did not address the social media posts herself, but her attorney said it was inappropriate and regrettable.
Nearly half of the courtroom was full of friends and family of Wetherbee. From his seat at the front, the judge was facing a crowd wearing sunflowers and the color yellow.
“Whenever you saw her, she was just a happy person," Wetherbee's sister said. "She was the sun in our life. She was just the best thing in a life that you can have."
They said Wetherbee was artistic and beautiful, a fighter after the horrific crash.
“For the next seven months, Morgan fought for her life," her mother Melody told the judge. "Every inch of her 18-year-old body was damaged, but she fought."
The family determined to share her story and make people think about how they’re driving on the road.
“We want people to learn that actions have consequences. And that can go either way. Consequences can be positive or negative. And something that is really upsetting is that this consequence happened to be negative, and it took the life of someone who did not deserve their life to end,” Wetherbee said.
Contact Chloe Leshner at cleshner@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.