The case against two DeKalb County parents accused of allowing teenagers to drink alcohol at their home before a fatal crash involving a Lakeside High School student has moved into the court system after the father was booked into jail Monday.
Sumanth Rao, 50, was booked five days after his wife, 49-year-old Anindita Rao, jail records show. He was released just before 2 a.m. Tuesday on $25,000 bond, the same amount as his wife, according to details provided by DeKalb District Attorney Sherry Boston during a news conference last week.
Boston previously said that Sumanth Rao, an airline executive, was traveling when the indictment against him and his wife was handed down, and that the DA’s office was in contact with the couple’s attorneys to discuss Sumanth Rao turning himself in.
The Raos are accused of allowing three teen girls, including their daughter, to drink at their home in February before leaving in a car that was later involved in a high-speed, single-vehicle crash that left 18-year-old Sophia Lekiachvili dead.
The driver, 18-year-old Hannah Hackemeyer, was also indicted on a raft of charges, including first-degree homicide by vehicle, serious injury by vehicle, driving under the influence of alcohol under the age of 21 and reckless driving. According to her indictment, her car was traveling at 98 mph just before the crash on Oak Grove Road, more than 60 mph above the speed limit.
The Raos’ daughter, Ananya Rao, suffered injuries considered serious but has since recovered, the DA said.
The Raos’ case will now move into DeKalb superior court. The couple are each charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter, a felony, and misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct and maintaining a disorderly house.
At last week’s news conference, Boston described the Raos’ home as a “party house” where teens knew they could drink alcohol without consequence. The indictment alleges that the girls were drinking wine there Feb. 3. Just before midnight, they told Sumanth Rao they were going for a drive and left, taking an open bottle with them, the indictment said.
“This crash was a foreseeable consequence of allowing underage drinking in their home and worse — allowing someone who they knew had consumed alcohol to drive,” Boston said.
The Raos have hired prominent local attorney Manny Arora, who recently defended Kenneth Cheseboro after he was accused of organizing fake electors in an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election in favor of then-President Donald Trump. Arora said he thought it was inappropriate for the DA to publicly comment on the indictment.
“It’s just unfortunate that they aired out their opinions to taint the jury pool,” Arora told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“I’m not a ‘fight it out in public’ guy,” he added.
Arora said his team would “challenge the validity of whether (the Raos) kept a ‘party house.’” He noted that the night of the accident involved “three girls in the basement,” where they may have consumed alcohol, which he said hardly constitutes a party.
Neither of the parents has a criminal history beyond a traffic violation, and neither has been previously arrested in DeKalb, according to public records reviewed by the AJC. The family has lived in their current home for nearly 10 years, and both parents are professionals. Anindita Rao is a health scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the federal agency confirmed, while Sumanth Rao is the chief financial officer of low-cost Canadian air carrier Flair Airlines.
Previously, Sumanth Rao was the CFO of Delta Vacations, a travel booking company owned by Delta Air Lines, according to the company’s website. Flair Airlines has not responded to the AJC’s multiple requests to confirm Sumanth Rao’s employment, but the company publicized his hiring in August with a news release that included a photo that matched the jail booking photo provided by the DeKalb sheriff’s office.
In an open letter published in the AJC’s Opinion page, Lekiachvili’s parents expressed a desire to see “individuals who criminally contributed to the accident to be held accountable,” though they did not mention the Raos or Hackemeyer by name.
Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
Akaki and Karolina Lekiachvili, Sophia’s parents, said they initially believed they would need to pursue consequences for their daughter’s death through civil court. They wrote that their meeting with DeKalb Assistant District Attorney Jordan Riser to discuss criminal charges brought them relief.
“We saw firsthand that the DA’s office was treating Sophie’s case with the gravity and care it deserved,” the Lekiachvilis’ letter said. “Instead of feeling isolated and overwhelmed, we felt relieved and assured. This was no longer a solitary struggle; they were taking ownership.”
The Lekiachvilis have also started a foundation called the Drive Smart Project to offer free driver education to teenagers and research teen driving behaviors.
“Our hope is that understanding these patterns could help shape safer policies and regulations, protecting other families from the heartbreak we’ve endured,” the Lekiachvilis’ letter said.
Arora, the Raos’ attorney, said his clients were “concerned, saddened and frightened all at the same time.” Their daughter might have recovered from any life-threatening injuries, he said, but she will likely suffer from complications for the rest of her life.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys have already filed evidence-related motions in the Raos’ case, but no future court appearances had been scheduled as of Tuesday, records show. The next step will be the arraignment, when the Raos will formally respond to the charges against them.
Arora said his team plans to “litigate everything” and that it would likely be six months or a year before the case could go to trial. The defense has already begun filing motions, and Arora said he anticipates at least a dozen more filings.
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