A deadly summer crash that shook Prince George’s County is now headed to sentencing. On March 31, 2026, 17-year-old Michael Collins pleaded guilty in connection with a stolen-car wreck that killed Washington, D.C., mother Shaunté Canty last August. In court, Collins admitted to grossly negligent manslaughter by motor vehicle and auto theft after the car he was in ran a red light and slammed into Canty’s vehicle. Canty was 35. Her 4‑year‑old child survived and was treated for injuries.
Collins is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 28, 2026. Prosecutors say they will ask the judge for a seven-year prison term, which still falls short of the 15-year statutory maximum he faces.
According to The Washington Post, the fatal crash unfolded on Aug. 26, 2025, at about 3:50 p.m., after Seat Pleasant officers using a license-plate reader picked up a vehicle that had been reported stolen days earlier near Seat Pleasant Drive and Joplin Street. An officer trailed the car from a distance but was ordered to break off. Moments later, the stolen vehicle sped north on Sheriff Road, ran the red light at Martin Luther King Jr. Highway and plowed into Canty’s eastbound car…