Daughter Suddenly Exits Moving SUV as Intoxicated Mother Drives | Meighan Cordie Case Analysis

hello this is Dr Grande today's question is can I analyze the case of Megan cordi just a reminder I'm not diagnosing anybody in this video only speculating about what could be happening in a situation like this if you enjoyed this video please like it subscribe to my channel and consider supporting me on patreon I will put the link to patreon in the description for this video first I'll look at the background of this case it's quite brief move to the timeline of the incident then offer my analysis Megan Elizabeth Cordy was born in December of 1990 and lived in Oregon by 2018 Megan and her three-year-old daughter Gia lived in Dayton about an hour Southwest of Portland her mother Jennifer weathers lived about 30 minutes away in King City now moving to the timeline of the incident on August 18 2018 Megan Cordy her daughter Gia and her mother Jennifer weathers attended a wedding in Grand Island Oregon which is 8 m south of Dayton the wedding venue was a place called Heiser Farms prior to their arrival at the wedding Megan and Jennifer had a debate about the driving Arrangements Megan didn't want to drive because she wanted the option of consuming alcohol at the wedding she had already been convicted for DUI and had a breathalyzer ignition lock on her vehicle Jennifer didn't want to drive because she thought that Megan's daughter Gia would become tired at the wedding which would force them all to leave before Jennifer wanted to despite her reservations Jennifer drove Megan and Megan's daughter to the wedding they were in Jennifer's silver Honda CRV at about 10:20 p.m. Megan's daughter became tired and fussy and Megan asked to leave the wedding Jennifer had anticipated this outcome and was upset she mentioned to Megan how this was the reason she did not want to drive Jennifer and Megan argued as they walked to the vehicle and continued arguing after departing the wedding according to Jennifer Megan and Gia were in the back seat of the Honda CRV after they had traveled a short distance Megan grabbed Jennifer by the hair and wanted to exit the vehicle Jennifer slowed her vehicle down to about 5 mph and Megan jumped out of the back seat onto the road Jennifer searched for Megan she exited the V vle to look around and also drove back and forth with the window down it was dark on the street there were no houses and no street lights Jennifer was unable to find her daughter Megan and gave up about a half hour later she drove to her apartment in King City with Megan's daughter still in the back seat Jennifer believed that Megan would figure things out on her own maybe she would walk back to Heiser Farms or find some other way home after arriving at her apartment Jennifer discovered that Megan's cell phone purse and shoes were in the front seat of the Honda CRV the next morning Jennifer returned to Grand ien the area where Megan supposedly disappeared she searched the area for about 2 hours but did not have success the search effort didn't appear to be enthusiastic for example Jennifer didn't ask any of the local residents or anyone at Heiser Farms about Megan using the non-emergency line Jennifer contacted the police and reported Megan missing in her description of events leading up to The Disappearance Jennifer failed to mention the part where Megan pulled out her hair it was only when the police found a clump of hair belonging to Jennifer in the front seat of the Honda CRV that Jennifer disclosed information about a physical altercation the police were suspicious about Jennifer's story a few details did not make sense for example the clump of hair and Megan's personal belongings were found in the front seat but Jennifer said that Megan jumped out of the back seat it also seems strange that it was too dark to find Megan on the road but Jennifer believed that Megan could have made it back to Heiser Farms on foot why didn't Jennifer contact the authorities immediately when she could not find her daughter the authorities conducted an extensive search near Heiser Farms where Megan supposedly disappeared but they did not find her on August 23 at about 10: a.m. three people who were jogging spotted the body of a woman in Dayton and notified the police it was Megan cordi her body was about 20 ft down an embankment behind the guardrail next to Southeast Foster Road this road is at The Interchange for highways 18 and 221 the medical examiner determined that Megan had two broken or severed vertebrae as well as other significant injuries it looked as though she had exited a moving vehicle and slammed into a fixed object there was evidence that she had struck one or more of the guardrail support beams it did not appear as though she had been struck by a moving vehicle as she was walking along the road Megan was moving faster than 5 m hour when she slammed into the guardrail beam or beams which is inconsistent with Jennifer's story about Megan making a slow moving exit the location of Megan's body was 9.4 mi from the wedding venue which was nowhere near where Jennifer had indicated furthermore Megan did not have injuries on her feet consistent with having walked that distance without shoes it was clear that Jennifer was lying here's what the police found as they continued their investigation people at the wedding reported that both Jennifer and Megan had been drinking three Witnesses believed that Jennifer was intoxicated and should not have been driving one witness described Jennifer as sloppy drunk unquote the police interviewed Megan's 3-year-old daughter Gia who said that Megan had initially been in the front seat of the vehicle Megan exited the vehicle but re-entered it by climbing into the back seat this may have occurred in the area where Jennifer claimed that Megan had gone missing but there's no way to know for sure the story about Megan getting back into the SUV contradicted Jennifer's story Jennifer never mentioned that part investigators believe that Jennifer convinced Megan to get back in after the argument now with everybody back in the vehicle Jennifer continued driving but she took a route which was inconsistent with getting back to Megan's home she ended up on Southeast Foster Road which meant that she had already passed Dayton it didn't make any sense for Jennifer to have been on that road as the vehicle was driving around the curve on Southeast Foster Road at a speed much higher than 5 mph Megan somehow left the Honda CRV it's not clear how this happened she may have fallen out by accident or voluntarily exited after making this departure Megan slammed into one or more of the guardrail support beams and was killed instantly she continued down the embankment where her body would be found a few days later on October 1 2018 50-year-old Jennifer weathers was charged with driving under the influence of intoxicants and re lessly endangering another person she was not charged in connection with the death of her daughter Megan the reckless endangerment charge was because Megan's daughter Gia was in the back seat of the vehicle as Jennifer was driving under the influence on February 5 2019 Jennifer pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and was sentenced to 5 days in jail the reckless endangerment charge was dismissed as part of a plea deal after being released from prison Jennifer changed her last name from weathers to Jagger perhaps in an effort to put her pass behind her now moving to my analysis many people believe that Jennifer should have been charged with a crime connected to the death of Megan cordi perhaps something like manslaughter the state argued that Jennifer had satisfied elements of several different crimes but not enough elements of any one crime to be charged they almost made it seem as though she escaped Justice on a technicality the situation was so strange unusual and bizarre that no law had been written to address it this brings me to the question was Jennifer guilty of a crime like manslaughter let's take a look at the evidence both for and against the idea that she was guilty starting with the inculpatory factors there is no question that Jennifer was driving while Under the Influence she eventually pleaded guilty to that charge Megan exited the back seat of Jennifer's vehicle while it was in motion which caused Megan's death even though Megan died immediately after striking the guardrail support beam or beams Jennifer would not have known this instead of immediately contacting the police or rendering any type of assistance she left Megan on the side of the road not knowing if she was alive or dead it was not until the next day when Jennifer finally contacted the police she used a non-emergency number and told the police she was kind of worried about her daughter she failed to mention the physical altercation until the police found her hair in the front seat of the vehicle Jennifer told the police that Megan went missing at a location near the wedding venue but she knew that wasn't true Megan had exited the front seat of the vehicle there but she climbed in the back seat at this point Jennifer was not only operating a vehicle while intoxicated but she had an unruly passenger in the SUV Megan had called her boyfriend to pick her up but he had to work early the next day it's clear that Megan did not want to be in the Honda CRV with Jennifer the situation was now even more dangerous for everyone involved instead of stopping in Dayton and dropping off Megan and Gia Jennifer continued driving right past the town maybe this prompted Megan to exit the vehicle moving to the exculpatory factors it's possible that Jennifer was too intoxicated to remember the events on the night Megan died maybe she wasn't lying to the police rather she simp didn't know what happened the state conceded that there was no possible way that Jennifer could have pushed Megan out of the Honda CRV Megan's Unexpected Journey was caused through her own actions or by accident even though Jennifer knew that Megan wanted to exit the vehicle no reasonable person in her situation would have expected Megan to Simply unlash the door and fly out of the SUV while in motion mostly because of the dying part during the incident close to Heiser Farms when Megan exited and re-entered the Honda CRV it was her responsibility to make sure the back door was properly closed and to wear a seat belt the door may or may not have been latched but it's clear that Megan was not buckled in when considering all the evidence in this case do I believe that Jennifer was guilty of manslaughter or of a similar crime no I do not believe she was guilty Beyond A Reasonable Doubt but I do think that a good argument could be made that Jennifer was morally culpable what do I think happened in this case this is just a theory my opinion Jennifer and Megan had a volatile relationship characterized by frequent arguments Megan appeared to have difficulty regulating her intake of alcohol her prior DUI did not discourage her from drinking and she was looking forward to consuming alcohol at the wedding when they left the wedding both Jennifer and Megan were intoxicated for some reason Megan felt comfortable relying on her mother to drive her and Gia home shortly into the drive Megan and Jennifer started arguing maybe Megan was upset that Jennifer was driving Under the Influence or maybe Jennifer was upset that they had to leave the wedding early as a result of the argument Megan exited the Honda CRV but Jennifer persuaded her to climb back in now Megan was in the back seat as Jennifer drove past the town of Dayton Megan became Furious she wondered why her mother didn't stop Megan already didn't want to be in the Honda CRV with her mother and now she was even more upset because they were driving away from her home Megan attempted to take charge of the situation and unlatched the rear door she probably did this to scare Jennifer into stopping like Megan was going to force Jennifer to hit the brakes unfortunately Megan was not familiar with the laws of physics and had unlatched the door as the vehicle was going around a curve she immed immediately flew out slammed into one or more guardrail support beams and was killed Jennifer was aware that Megan was dead this is why she never tried calling her on her cell phone terrified about going to prison for driving Under the Influence Jennifer decided to contact the police after the effects of the alcohol had worn off she used the incident near Heiser Farms to create a story about Megan running off into the darkness Jennifer was only thinking about herself she had not care about her daughter's life and she did not care about her granddaughter's life now moving to my final thoughts many people who struggle with alcohol use actively try to escape the consequences of their behavior that is the theme of this case Megan desperately wanted to drink and thought that having her mother drive her home was a way to accomplish this goal without risking arrest unfortunately Jennifer also became intoxicated rather than finding another way home Megan took her daughter and entered the CRV with Jennifer she may have been avoiding legal consequences however she forgot about other ways alcohol use can lead to death Jennifer's alcohol use led her to driving the vehicle around a curve where she should not have been in the first place because they were past Dayton Megan's alcohol use led her to opening the rear passenger side door which of course resulted in her death Jennifer's first thought after seeing her daughter killed was something like how do I escape responsibility alcohol has many ways to kill sometimes it is straightforward other times it works through relational Dynamics if someone is only thinking about how to escape legal liability they are missing many of the ways alcohol can cause damage or death those are my thoughts on the case of Megan cordi please put any opinions and thoughts in the comment section they always generate an interesting dialogue as always I hope you found my analysis of this topic to be informative thanks for watching

Channel: Dr. Todd Grande

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Length: 15min 3sec (903 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 19 2024