Tresa Baldas

Detroit Free Press

It was just a few weeks ago that Nina Vitale went to visit her big sister at her new house in Royal Oak, where the elder sibling showed off her latest purchase: a toddler-sized rocking chair.

"I started laughing and said, 'Francesca, you're not even pregnant!' " Vitale recalled, noting her sister was eager to have children.

Tragically, Francesca Weatherhead's life was cut short.

The 25-year-old newlywed and former homecoming queen was killed in a car crash Monday that involved a parolee fleeing Livonia police. They were pursuing him for an attempted home invasion when, police say, he ran a red light and broadsided Weatherhead's car at 6 Mile and Beech Daly, killing her.

Her family now is demanding answers.

They want to know why the suspect — a habitual offender whose crimes include home invasion, weapons violations, drug possession and larceny — was paroled to begin with. He was paroled in May, five years after he was sentenced to 4-20 years in prison for home invasion and drug possession.

"Why, why was he let out?" her mother, Angela Vitale, said through tears. "They should be held responsible — whoever let him out should be held responsible."

Her daughter, who was helping put her husband through medical school and was just settling down in her new home, deserves justice, she said.

"She was a great person ... a good kid, hardworking," her mother recalled. "She had a whole life ahead of her."

The accused killer

Weatherhead's accused killer is John McCallum, 27, of Detroit, who is facing numerous charges in her death, including second-degree murder. He was arraigned Thursday in 16th District Court and was ordered jailed. A preliminary examination has been set for Oct. 23.

According to the Michigan Department of Corrections, under his sentence, McCallum was eligible for parole on Sept. 15, 2013, but was given a continuance by the parole board and directed to complete a violence prevention program.

"He successfully completed the program with a very positive overall assessment and was paroled May 6, 2014," according to an MDOC statement provided to the Free Press. "While in prison he also completed his GED ... and the Chance for Life program. The parole board also indicated that prisoner McCallum expressed remorse and insight into his offense during his interview."

According to MDOC spokesman Russ Marlan, Michigan's parole system has produced one of the lowest recidivism rates in the country: 71% of prisoners released do not come back to prison within three years.

"However, predicting human beings' future behavior can be a very difficult task. Unfortunately, some of the individuals they parole end up not being successful and some end up hurting innocent citizens," Marlan said. "I know personally that these cases have a significant impact on the individual parole board members involved — they anguish deeply over these cases."

The victim's family

For Kristina Vitale, Weatherhead's 27-year-old sister, no reason is good enough for setting McCallum free.

"It just baffles my mind that someone with that history was even allowed out," Kristina Vitale said. "He's being tried for his fourth serious offense? Does it take a life ... to keep someone behind bars?"

The family, meanwhile, does not blame police for chasing McCallum. According to the Vitales, the officer who initially pursued him is a woman who is very distraught by what happened and has taken a leave of absence from work because of the fatal crash, which remains under investigation by Livonia and Michigan State Police.

"I want her to know we don't blame her," said Angela Vitale, the mother. "She was doing her job."

Meanwhile, the Vitales — a close-knit Sicilian family — are trying to focus on all of Francesca's goodness and let people know that she was loved by many.

Francesca was an avid MSU Spartan fan. She graduated in 2010 with a marketing degree from MSU, where she met her husband, Matthew Weatherhead, who is finishing up his medical schooling at St. John Providence Hospital. Francesca was a sales manager for Altria, a company that manufactures cigarettes.

Among her sisters, Francesca was known as the angelic one, the kind and generous sibling who did things like buy a high school kid who couldn't afford designer glasses a pair of Ray-Bans. There's no secret, her siblings say, as to why she was voted homecoming queen at Trenton High School in 2006.

Her motto in life was simple: " I just love love."

"My sister was my whole world. She was my everything," Nina Vitale said, fighting back the tears. "I just want justice."

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com or 313-223-5981. Follow her on Twitter @Tbaldas.