Driver in I-695 crash that killed 6 highway workers lands in prison over McDonald's trip

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Hat tip, WJZ

Criminal justice
Driver in I-695 crash that killed 6 highway workers lands in prison over McDonald’s trip

Dylan Segelbaum
5/5/2026 2:20 p.m. EDT

Melachi Brown, 23, violated his probation after driving with a revoked license

A trip to McDonald’s cost Melachi Brown his freedom.

On Dec. 9, 2025, Baltimore County Police pulled Brown over on Liberty Road near Rolling Road in Milford Mill at about 2:30 a.m. after spotting him driving a car with broken taillights. He told officers he was giving a ride to a friend who had just gotten out of the hospital to the fast-food restaurant.

But Brown did not have a valid driver’s license. That’s because he had pleaded guilty in Baltimore County Circuit Court for his role in a 2023 crash on Interstate 695 that killed six highway workers.

Baltimore County Circuit Judge Evelyn L. Cusson on Tuesday sentenced Brown to serve six years in prison after he pleaded guilty to driving with a revoked license and admitted to violating his probation. ... One of the conditions of supervision for his convictions in the deadly crash was to abstain from driving.

Before she imposed the sentence, Cusson said Brown “poses an extreme risk to public safety.” ... “You really acted with disregard for the law,” Cusson said. “It’s not clear to the court you’ve been deterred and rehabilitated.”

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