A Missouri teenage given a light jail sentence after killing three friends by driving drunk when she was 17 is now tampering with her alcohol monitor, prosecutors say.
Hailey Zenk, now 19, was freed on bail again this week despite allegedly violating a key part of the probation she was slapped with after the February 2023 crash in Lincoln County, Missouri.
Zenk took a plea in June over the deaths of William Flickinger, 18, Emily McNees, 17, and Kaeden Tyler, 15, and served just 120 days in jail before being released on probation.
She was back in court this week after the court was alerted to two instances of her tampering with her SCRAM alcohol monitor, and after a judge denied raising her bail she was released on a $20,000 cash-only bond.
She will be back in court in February and may see her lenient probation order upgraded to prison time after tampering with the device.
Douglas Meyer, the stepfather of Kaeden Tyler, condemned Zenk’s behavior and said he hopes to see Zenk imprisoned.
‘Every single time, there’s bad news. It’s like opening up another wound,’ he told FirstAlert4.
‘Maybe wrongs are being righted, and hopefully, the judge will do the right thing and see through all the mistakes she’s made since the beginning.’
Upon her release under new conditions this week, Zenk was placed on house arrest and is only allowed to leave for treatment, church or if her probation officer makes an exception.
Hailey Zenk, 19, twice tampered with her alcohol monitor after she was released on probation earlier this year related to a tragic February 2023 drunk driving crash that killed three of her friends
Emily McNee (pictured) was killed in the horror crash in the early hours of the morning, and Zenk was found to have a combination of drugs and alcohol in her system
William Fleckinger (left) and Kaeden Tyler (right) also tragically lost their lives in the crash
The crash that killed Fleckinger, Tyler and McNees unfolded shortly before 4:30am Sunday February 5, 2023, when cops said Zenk was speeding at 81mph in a 35mph zone.
Zenk, who was 17 at the time, lost control of the vehicle and crashed it into a tree, killing her three friends. Zenk and another passenger survived the crash but were hospitalized.
The teen driver was found to have a combination of drugs and alcohol in her system at the time of the crash.
However, the leniency shown to Zenk sparked outrage from the community, as she was allowed to enter an Alford Plea – where she pleaded no contest and did not admit guilt, but acknowledged there was enough evidence to convict her.
She was initially sentenced to 10 years for driving while intoxicated resulting in two or more deaths, seven years for DWI leading to serious injury and seven years each for three counts of involuntary manslaughter, but the judge decided to impose a suspended execution of sentence.
This meant Zenk served just 120 days in St. Charles County jail before she was released on probation – angering the victims’ families.
‘We are greatly disappointed and outraged. It’s just unthinkable that they think 120 days is going to teach her anything because not even killing three people did,’ Kaeden Tyler’s aunt Jordan Reichert said at the time.
Zenk was hauled back into court this week after tampering with her alcohol monitor, and will be on house arrest under strict limitations until her probation hearing in February
Cops said Zenk was speeding at 81mph in a 35mph zone when she crashed
Families of the victims condemned the lenient sentence Zenk received earlier this year after she served just 120 days in jail, ‘one month for every one of those kids she killed’
The family of victim Emily McNees (pictured) said after Zenk was hauled back into court this week: ‘She’s already got the ultimate second chance, and she ruined it’
Debbie Bogert, the grandmother of the surviving victim Trevor Bogert, added: ‘120 days? That’s one month for every one of those kids she killed.
‘My grandson underwent 19 blood infusions and 11 surgeries and still has more surgeries to undergo in the future. All of the family and friends today got slapped in the face when we heard that sentence. To see the look in my grandson’s eyes when he was told what she got, it’s just unthinkable.’
Despite tearfully apologizing after her sentencing, Zenk went on to tamper with her alcohol monitoring device twice within the first two months of her release.
As she was hauled back in court Thursday, Zenk’s attorney requested her bond be reduced to $10,000, but the judge denied the petition.
Victims’ families said they were pleased to see the bail was not reduced, but said Zenk’s post-trial behavior has disappointed them.
‘She’s already got the ultimate second chance, and she ruined it,’ said Dakota McNees, the aunt of victim Emily McNees.
‘Our loved ones didn’t get a second chance.’
Zenk is set to be back in court February 7 over the potential revocation of her probation – just two days shy of the two-year anniversary of the crash.
