Rockville, MD- In the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, the Honorable David Lease sentenced defendant Liam Coskun, 19, of Darnestown, to 14 years in prison, with all but 18 months suspended. The defendant agreed to waive credit for 11 months already served, so, in total, the judge imposed an executed sentence of two years and five months. Judge Lease ordered five years of probation upon release, and for the first 18 months of the probation period, the defendant will be on monitored home detention. The sentencing hearing was held on October 23, 2026. The State had requested an executed sentence of ten years.
On June 9, 2026, Coskun entered a guilty plea to grossly negligent manslaughter and the unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. The charges stem from a fatal crash that caused the death of 88-year-old Myrtle Gottlieb and the injury of another victim.
On May 31, 2025, at approximately 8:35 a.m., Coskun, who was not a licensed driver, was operating a 2018 blue Jeep Compass, which he did not have permission to use. He crashed into a stopped 2017 blue Toyota Corolla at the intersection of Sam Eig Highway and Fields Road in Gaithersburg. An investigation by the Montgomery County Police Collision Reconstruction Unit determined the crash was avoidable and that Coskun failed to stop for a red light before hitting the Toyota from behind. Several hours after the crash, at 11:52 a.m., the defendant consented to an alcohol concentration test, which resulted in a breath alcohol concentration of .09. The female driver of the Toyota was injured. Myrtle Gottlieb, who was a passenger in the Toyota, died from injuries caused by the collision on June 4, 2025.
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Assistant State’s Attorney Hannah Gleason prosecuted this matter.
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