A jury found a 23-year-old from south St. Louis County guilty of involuntary manslaughter earlier this week, six years after, while speeding on Gravois Avenue in a luxury sports car, he struck a pickup and killed its passenger.
That crash happened in December 2017, when Mahdi Gayar was 17. He was behind the wheel of a Maserati, driving almost 90 mph when he killed 62-year-old Daniel Domian. Prosecutors filed charges of involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action a year and half later, and then the case began slowly moving its way through the courts.
In March, the Domian family showed up to court under the impression that Gayar would be entering a guilty plea. However, he instead changed attorneys and a trial date that had already been pending for four years was delayed further, with trial then set for October.
“October is too far away,” Domian's widow, Pam, shouted in the courtroom at that hearing. “Who is this kid that he can influence the law like this? He gets to be out having a good time and I’m miserable. I deserve justice for my husband.”
Almost six years after the initial crash, Gayar's trial started on Monday, with closing arguments coming late Wednesday afternoon. The jury returned their verdict Wednesday night after an hour's deliberation, finding the 23-year-old guilty of involuntary manslaughter but not guilty on the armed criminal action charge.
A press release put out by the Circuit Attorney's Office said that despite causing the crash at only 17, Gayar had already racked up "a long history of reckless driving in densely populated areas," citing infractions for speeding and careless and imprudent driving in Clayton, Town and Country, Sunset Hills and elsewhere.
Gayar will be sentenced by St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Clinton R. Wright on January 19, 2024. He faces up to seven years in prison.
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