On July 13, 2023, best friends Kiea McCann, 17, and Dlava Mohamed, 16, were headed to their prom in Monaghan, Ireland. Their driver for the evening was 61-year-old Anthony McGinn. During the trip, McGinn was speeding, driving 75 miles per hour where the speed limit was 50. The road was wet, and McGinn lost control of the car and struck a tree.
Kiea and Dlava died in the crash. When their parents arrived at the scene, they laid the two girls next to each other, uniting their hands.
Kiea’s dad tried to administer CPR on the scene.
In the nearly two years since the incident, McGinn has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, resulting in their deaths, The Irish Times reports. He is also charged with causing bodily harm to Dlava’s sister, Avin Mohamed, who was in the car at the time of the accident. Kiea’s mother, Teresa told the court that she “trusted” McGinn to drive her daughter to prom.
“When we got to the scene, Kiea was already gone. Her dad tried CPR on her. Nothing would bring her back,” she told The Telegraph.
Everyone in the car was injured.
“Kiea and her best friend were robbed of their lives,” Teresa continued. “They were put side by side holding hands on the grass as me and my husband lay beside them.” Oisin Clerkin, another passenger in the car, was sitting in the front seat at the time of the crash. Oisin reportedly asked McGinn to slow down.
“He was driving really fast and it scared me. None of the girls said anything. Kiea looked scared. I said ‘Goodbye’ to Kiea and I woke up in hospital,” Clerkin told the Republic of Ireland’s police force, the Gardaí, in a statement.
Dlava’s father said her dreams are buried with her.
In a victim impact statement, Dlava’s father explained that the family moved to Ireland from Syria. They relocated to begin a new life. Now, he claims Dlava’s dreams are “buried with her.” Avin also remembered asking McGinn to stop. “My sister came with me [to prom] because I had no one else to go with,” Avin said. She claims everything changed from the time they got into McGinn’s car.
McGinn has expressed remorse through his lawyer.
McGinn was also seriously injured in the crash. Emergency personnel airlifted him from the scene. He was in a coma for eight weeks. His defense attorney Breffni Gordon, said he “formally apologizes to the family and friends of the victims.” A judge is expected to sentence him on May 14, 2025.
