AKRON, Ohio — It’s been a trying day for Tyra Kelly, the mother of 31-year-old Christina Kelly, after she said she attended the sentencing for the man who killed her daughter in a car crash last year on Christmas Eve.
Nearly a year later, a Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge sentenced Mont'e Boring to up to nine years in prison and indefinitely suspended his driver’s license, according to a report News 5 obtained from our partners at the Akron Beacon Journal.
“I had to do something that no parent should have to do,” Tyra said.
The grieving mother told News 5 the corner of Andrus Street and Stanton Avenue in Akron is a painful reminder of how her 31-year-old daughter’s life was cut short.
But somehow, Tyra says she finds strength despite the hurt she feels inside.
“I just keep on, keeping on,” Tyra said.
In the early morning hours last year on Christmas Eve, Tyra said she woke up to a phone call she’ll never forget.
“I think about how blessed I am that I got to hear my baby tell me she loved me one more time. I actually thought it was a cruel prank when I received the phone call because I didn’t know who was on the other line and I was like why would you call me and say something like this to me and I hung up the phone. I was in dead sleep, and then my oldest daughter called me, and she said ‘Mom, you have to get out of bed. It’s Christina,'” Tyra said.
According to the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office, Tyra’s daughter Christina, 31, was killed while riding as a passenger with Boring behind the wheel and one other person in the car. Boring lost control of his SUV on Andrus Street near Standon Avenue in Akron and struck a tree.
Boring later admitted to smoking marijuana prior to getting behind the vehicle and pled guilty in October 2024 to aggravated vehicular homicide and operating a vehicle under the influence.
“He will probably never know what he took from me, and what he took from all of us and her children,” Tyra said.
As Tyra mourns the loss of her daughter, she said she’s also heartbroken for the man who took her daughter’s life.
“I just thought to myself, 'What if this was my son? What if the tables were turned?' And I thanked him because I knew he was with my daughter when she made that phone call to me,” said Tyra.
Kelly admits the day has been difficult, but she said she’s choosing to end it on a grateful note.
“I could see how much he actually loved my daughter and how she was his friend, and I’m just so glad that that’s the way I approached it,” said Tyra. “Grateful that I made this drive. I’m grateful that I came. I’m grateful that I got to see him.”
Although Kelly said her daughter is gone, she said her life will never be forgotten.
