Openly crying, with her husband standing at her side holding a picture of their deceased teenage daughter, Makayla, Edwardsburg’s Jennifer McKenzie had one request to the man who was responsible for causing the accident that claimed the young woman’s life: that the man, upon his release from jail, takes the time to watch a video of Makayla’s memorial service.

“We don’t want his life to be ruined, but we want to him to remember, if he serves jail time, that whatever his sentence is, it is minor compared to the lifetime we must endure without our daughter,” Jennifer said.

The mother delivered her tearful request during a statement she gave in the courtroom of Cass County District Court Stacey Rentrow Thursday, where 25-year-old Jeffrey Robert Jackson, of Niles, was sentenced to three months in jail and two years of probation a count of moving violation causing death and one count of moving violation causing serious injury. Jackson had pleaded no contest to both charges during an earlier appearance in court July 15.

Jackson was charged with the counts due to his involvement in the car accident that claimed the life of the 16-year-old Edwardsburg student, which occurred around noon on May 3 in Jefferson Township. Jackson’s vehicle, a Ford 150 pickup truck, struck a 2001 Hyundai operated by McKenzie after the man ignored a stop sign located at the intersection of Pine Lake Street and Dailey Road.

According to county prosecutors, Jackson was traveling at 61 mph on a 55 mph road, and failed to notice the stop sign due to the fact he was looking down to grab a drink inside his vehicle.

“Because of his actions, someone died, and he affected a community with that loss,” said Assistant Prosecutor Tiffiny Vohwinkle in her statement to the court Thursday.

Vohwinkle requested that Rentfrow sentence Jackson to nine months in jail, or at least a hefty probation period, as a way to deter similar reckless driving from occurring in the county, she said.

Also speaking during Jackson’s hearing were McKenzie’s two pair of passengers at the time of the accident, 17-year-old Hanna Philpot and 16-year-old Camryn Raab. Both were riding with their friend to attend classes at Southwestern Michigan College when the crash occurred. Both girls suffered injuries in the crash, with Philpot suffering a broken jaw while Raab a concussion.

“We want to see consequences for careless actions, but it will not make us happy to see him [Jackson] rot in jail,” Philpot said.

Jackson’s attorney, Robert Drake, said that while no one can know for sure the exact cause of the accident, his client had a clean driving record up to that point, and was not drinking or texting at the time.

“I do not know what measure the court could give that would bring any sort of peace to the families involved in this, but I think the court can provide some finality or closure to this case,” Drake said. “It is a tragedy for sure. Mr. Jackson is tremendously remorseful about what happened.”

The judge ultimately decided on the 90-day jail sentence, saying that the punishment and additional probation time would give him more time to think about what to do in the future as well as to deter others from the same behavior in the future, she said.

“This is a case where no matter what the court does there is very little I can do to fix the situation or make any of the parties feel better,” Rentfrow said.