An Orange County mother now faces a manslaughter charge because prosecutors say she kept letting her teenage son ride an illegal e-motorcycle after she was warned it would get someone killed.
Story Snapshot
- Tommi Jo Mejer, 50, of Aliso Viejo faces involuntary manslaughter, child endangerment, and accessory charges after her son’s e-motorcycle struck 81-year-old Ed Ashman.
- Prosecutors say Mejer had been repeatedly warned her 14-year-old son was illegally riding the e-motorcycle before the crash.
- Ashman, a Vietnam veteran and substitute teacher, died from his injuries weeks after being hit.
- Orange County has since charged six more parents with child endangerment over kids riding e-motos illegally, including the parents of a 13-year-old who died in a crash.
A Wheelie Turns Deadly In Lake Forest
On April 16, Mejer’s 14-year-old son was riding a 2025 Surron-style e-motorcycle in Lake Forest when he struck Ed Ashman, an 81-year-old substitute teacher walking home from work. Ashman, a Vietnam veteran, suffered critical injuries in the collision. Investigators say the teen had been performing wheelies on a vehicle that is not street legal and requires no license to buy, only the judgment of whoever controls access to it.
Mejer was arrested five days later, on April 21. She initially faced felony child endangerment, felony accessory after the fact, and misdemeanor counts for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, loaning a vehicle to an unlicensed driver, and giving false information to a police officer. Ashman died from his injuries weeks later. Prosecutors then filed an amended complaint adding a felony involuntary manslaughter charge directly tied to his death.
Why Prosecutors Say The Warnings Matter
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office built its case on one core fact: Mejer had already been warned, more than once, about her son’s illegal riding before Ashman was hurt. That detail matters because California does not automatically hold a parent responsible for a child’s actions. Courts generally require proof the parent knew the child was dangerous and had a real chance to stop it.
California’s pattern jury instructions spell out that standard directly, requiring proof a parent had both the opportunity and the ability to control a child’s conduct and failed to use it. Appellate rulings going back decades have applied the same “special relationship” logic to parents who ignore a known risk their child creates for others. Prior warnings turn ordinary parenting into something prosecutors can argue was knowing neglect.
Mejer’s attorneys have pushed back gently rather than denying the facts outright, saying it would be premature to detail the allegations further. Their statement called her “anguished over the terrible accident” and offered condolences to Ashman’s family, calling the case devastating for everyone involved.
Orange County Widens Its Crackdown On Parents
Mejer’s case is not isolated. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer has announced charges against six additional parents accused of allowing their children to illegally ride e-motos, framing the filings as a direct warning to families across the county. One case involves the parents of a 13-year-old boy who died riding an e-moto in Garden Grove, with the father also facing felony counts tied to the death.
The pattern suggests prosecutors are treating these machines less like toys and more like unregistered motor vehicles that demand adult supervision. For parents who assumed an e-bike or e-moto was a harmless upgrade from a regular bicycle, these filings are a blunt signal that California courts expect them to know the difference and act on it.
Orange County (California) District Attorney doesn’t want to prosecute parents for allowing their children to illegally ride E-Motos, but he is.
Actions have consequences, District Attorney Spitzer told CBS’ Evening News’ Natalie Morales in a sit-down interview to explain how… pic.twitter.com/UZJWWC8muw
— OCDA Todd Spitzer (@OCDAToddSpitzer) October 23, 2026
The Injury Numbers Behind The Legal Shift
These prosecutions are landing against a backdrop of fast-rising injury counts. A University of California San Diego study found e-bike-related injuries have climbed “exponentially” as the vehicles have exploded in popularity among teenagers. California law already sorts these vehicles into three classes, with Class 3 models capped at 28 miles per hour and restricted to riders at least 16 years old who wear a helmet.
A Marin County grand jury report went further, concluding that children under 16 operating Class 2 e-bikes pose a danger to themselves and the public. Enforcement remains inconsistent statewide, with some riders finding easy ways around speed and age rules. That gap between what the law requires and what actually happens on neighborhood streets is exactly where cases like Mejer’s now land.
Sources:
abcnews.com, orangecountyda.org, people.com, latimes.com, cbsnews.com, sandiegocounty.gov
