By Nathan Clark
mlive.com
JACKSON COUNTY, Mich. — Tavion William Beasley almost killed a Michigan State Trooper during a traffic stop in the summer of 2023.
Now, almost three years later, he is headed to prison after being forgiven by the trooper who was dragged by Beasley’s vehicle for almost a mile.
“I don’t hate you,” Trooper Ravin Toner said at Beasley’s sentencing hearing Thursday. “God has given me the strength to tell you that I do forgive you. I will never forget and neither will you. My hope, Tavion, is that you too will be a better person at the end. While you must pay for your actions that day, you will still have your whole life ahead of you to become a better man.”
Visiting Circuit Court Judge Richard Ball sentenced Beasley Thursday, March 19 to serve five to 10 years in prison.
Toner, a 12-year veteran of the Michigan State Police Jackson post, still is serving on the streets. She admitted she continues to reflect on what happened and how it has changed her.
“I’m kind. I’m understanding, patient, professional and fair. All things that you (Beasley) were afforded that day and took advantage of,” Toner said, admitting she isn’t as lenient as she used to be during traffic stops.
“Something so small, turned into something that almost, and had the potential to end in tragedy. I spent five months wondering if I wanted to come back to being a trooper, a career I have wanted since I was 5 years old.”
Beasley, 24, pleaded guilty Feb. 4 to one count each of assault with intent to murder, third-degree fleeing and eluding and using a firearm in the commission of a felony.
“I know I didn’t do the right thing. I just hope that she can forgive me,” Beasley said. “I didn’t mean to try to hurt anybody. I’m sincerely sorry for what I’ve done.”
As part of the plea, two additional charges of carrying a concealed weapon and assaulting a police officer were dismissed.
“He was a 22-year-old kid who made a bad decision, and then made the terrible decision to try and mitigate those consequences or escape those consequences by driving away after (the trooper) ordered him not to,” Beasley’s attorney, Chief Public Defender Kevin Rogers said.
Rogers thanked the court for honoring a sentencing agreement that fell below the recommended minimum sentence range of 10 to 17 years in prison, calculated by Beasley’s presentence report.
“I truly hope he learns from this. We did have an agreement in this matter for a minimum sentencing of (five to 10 years). We know that is below the sentencing guidelines and we are grateful for that mercy from the court,” Rogers said. “Although we’ve come out on a pretty good side of it, it is something that we ought to strive for. I think this country ought to be better. I hope that he can do better.”
The charges stem from a traffic stop that occurred at 9 a.m. Sept. 24, 2023 , when trooper Toner spotted a maroon Chrysler 300 speeding and pulled over the car on South Street near Michigan Avenue in Jackson, state police said.
Toner clocked the vehicle going 92 mph on U.S. 127 ahead of the stop, according to a complete body camera video recording of the incident obtained by MLive/The Jackson Citizen Patriot through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The video shows the trooper approaching the car driven by Beasley to ask for his driver’s license, registration and insurance before noticing marijuana burning inside the vehicle and ordering Beasley to step out of it.
Beasley is heard admitting to the marijuana before complying with the trooper and stepping out of the vehicle. After asking Beasley if he knows he’s not supposed to smoke marijuana while driving, Beasley says he knows, while also continuing to talk on his cell phone.
Toner tells him to focus on what is happening right now and stop using his cell phone. He repeatedly ignores this order while apologizing to the trooper.
Beasley, after being told to set his phone on the trunk and sit down, grabs his phone, walks back to his car and gets in while Toner yells at him to stop.
The video becomes erratic as Beasley is seen and heard speeding in the vehicle with Toner still inside, ordering him to stop and let her out, according to the recording.
The trooper is heard clinging to the car yelling for Beasley to stop for 41 seconds.
“The trooper was pressing on the brake to try and stop the car and eventually fell out and rolled onto the ground,” Michigan State Police Lt. Rene Gonzales said.
Beasley sped off with Toner’s body camera still in the car after it became dislodged from the trooper’s uniform during the incident, according to the video.
The dislodged body camera, still recording from inside Beasley’s car, records Beasley speaking on his cell phone with someone as he speeds away, admitting to pushing the trooper out of his car.
“Bro, I just pushed police out the car,” he said. “I’m running, bro. I’m running. She got my ID and everything. I don’t have nothing. I’m scared, bro. I don’t know what to do.”
Toner was taken to Henry Ford Jackson Hospital with minor injuries, police said.
Beasley was arrested when he turned himself in after police identified him as a suspect.
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