A man who was convicted of killing a grandmother and two children during a high-speed chase in a stolen limousine was sentenced to life in prison Monday morning, nearly eight years after the deadly hit-and-run.
Diontre Tigner was 16 years old in January 2016 when he fled from College Park police in the stolen SUV, authorities said. Three people were killed when he ran a stop sign and slammed into a 75-year-old woman and her two grandchildren as they drove to church.
Dorothy Wright and her grandchildren, 12-year-old Cameron Costner and 6-year-old Layla Partridge, were heading to First St. Peter AME Church that morning, just like they did every Sunday, the children’s mother testified at trial.
Joi Partridge told the jury she was close with her mother and that the retired Atlanta schoolteacher would help look after the kids when she had to work, Channel 2 Action News reported.
“She would take them to church every Sunday, as she was doing on that Sunday morning,” Partridge said.
Authorities spent years searching for Tigner, who ran from the scene. He wasn’t arrested until late 2021.
Credit: Fulton County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Fulton County Sheriff's Office
Tigner, now 24, was convicted Thursday on each of the charges he faced, including multiple counts of felony murder, hit-and-run and a host of traffic violations. On Monday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kimberly Adams handed down a life sentence plus six years with the possibility of parole.
The family had hoped for life without parole, Channel 2 reported.
“It’s just bitter, leaves a bitter taste in your mouth then and leaves a bitter taste in our mouth now,” a family member told the news station after the sentencing.
The crash occurred after College Park police responded to a stolen vehicle call at the Westin Atlanta Airport hotel the morning of Jan. 31, 2016. Tigner and the stolen Chevrolet Suburban were still at the location, but he fled after spotting officers, police said at the time. Authorities said they pursued the vehicle for about 10 miles into southwest Atlanta.
At some point, officers lost contact with the SUV on a residential street near the historic Westview Cemetery, then found it again at Rogers Avenue and South Gordon Street. Authorities said Tigner sped through a stop sign and crashed into the Buick LeSabre driven by Wright, causing the car to overturn.
Layla was ejected from the vehicle, and it took authorities hours to realize the child had been in the car, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported. It wasn’t until Joi Partridge was told about the tragedy that she asked about her daughter. The girl’s body was found a short distance from the crash scene obscured in some shrubs.
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