Woman convicted in fiery 107-mph crash that killed college couple, Ohio officials say

A college couple approaching their two-year anniversary was killed when a driver speeding through a red light crashed into their vehicle, Ohio officials say.

Now, the 59-year-old driver accused of causing the 2023 crash has been found guilty of vehicular homicide, Warren County Prosecutor David P. Fornshell said in a March 10 news release.

Mary Ellen Huelsman was driving 107 mph on May 20, 2023, when she ran a red light and crashed into the side of a vehicle carrying 20-year-old Michael Barch and 19-year-old Karys Seipel, according to the prosecutor.

The students’ vehicle was shoved 250 feet before it struck a telephone pole and caught fire, Fornshell said. Both of them were pronounced dead at the scene.

Huelsman’s attorney argued she was “not guilty by reason of insanity,” but Warren County Common Pleas Court Judge Timothy Tepe rejected those claims, according to the news release.

She was found guilty of two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and two counts of vehicular homicide, officials say. She faces a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.

“It’s infuriating that because of Huelsman’s reckless decision that night, a young man and a young woman with tremendously bright futures did not return home to the families that loved them so much,” Fornshell said.

Barch and Seipel were recent graduates of Springboro High School and were weeks away from celebrating their two-year dating anniversary, according to an obituary.

Seipel, who was attending Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, had dreams of becoming a therapist.

“Karys had a larger than life personality, with a great sense of humor, and was quick witted, and was the self-proclaimed backbone of the Seipel family,” according to the obituary. “She was also known to be very caring, a great listener, and very good caring for children.”

Barch attended Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, where he was majoring in accounting.

“Always smiling, Michael was known to many as being a ‘light’ and ‘pure soul’ and was a true leader in all aspects,” loved ones said in his obituary. “He was recently elected to be the President of the National Society of Leadership and Success beginning this fall.”

Springboro is about a 40-mile drive northeast from Cincinnati.

This story was originally published March 11, 2025 at 8:56 AM with the headline "Woman convicted in fiery 107-mph crash that killed college couple, Ohio officials say."