Nine months after a high-speed, single-car crash claimed the life of a Lakeside High School student in DeKalb County, the driver and the parents of one of the passengers have been indicted on charges related to the girl’s death.
At a news conference Wednesday afternoon announcing the indictments, DeKalb District Attorney Sherry Boston made it clear that her office placed much of the blame for the fatal wreck on those parents.
“Hopefully, the message is ringing loud and clear today that if you are going to break the law by supplying or allowing people under the age to consume alcohol in your homes, then you will be held accountable,” Boston said.
Sophia Lekiachvili, 18, died after the crash on Oak Grove Road that happened just after midnight Feb. 24. The driver, 18-year-old Hannah Hackemeyer, and backseat passenger Ananya Rao were able to crawl out of the car, but Lekiachvili was trapped in the front passenger seat, Boston said.
Lekiachvili had to be extracted and was taken to the hospital, where she later died from her injuries. Rao was also taken to the hospital and treated for serious injuries.
The case is another example of prosecutors attempting to hold parents responsible for criminal incidents involving their children. The tactic has been used in high-profile gun violence cases and cases of adults supplying alcohol to underage drinkers. The parents’ indictment is “unusual, but not unprecedented,” a former prosecutor told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Before the crash, the teenagers had been hanging out at Ananya Rao’s home under the supervision of her parents, Sumanth and Anindita Rao, according to the DA’s office. Boston said the high school classmates were openly sharing a bottle of wine in the Raos’ home in the cul-de-sac on Crestvale Place, a situation the DA described as a regular occurrence. The teens told Sumanth Rao they were going for a drive just before midnight and took a bottle of wine with them, Boston said.
DeKalb police found that open bottle when they responded to the wrecked Mazda CX-5, Boston said. Hackemeyer was determined to be driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol concentration of .046, more than twice the legal limit for those under the age of 21, according to the DA’s office. Boston also said data from the car showed it was traveling 98 mph one second before the crash and that Hackemeyer never tapped the brakes.
Hackemeyer was indicted on three counts of first-degree homicide by vehicle, three counts of serious injury by vehicle, driving under the influence of alcohol under the age of 21, DUI less safe, reckless driving and possession of an open container of alcohol.
Boston explained that each count of vehicular homicide was linked to an underlying, prerequisite charge: DUI while under 21, DUI less safe and reckless driving. Hackemeyer can only be convicted on one count of homicide by vehicle.
“While Hannah Hackemeyer was the one behind the wheel that terrible night, we have determined that she was not the only one responsible for what happened,” Boston told reporters before announcing the Raos’ indictments.
“As a prosecutor and a mother of two teenage daughters, I have never seen a more egregious disregard for the safety and well-being of young people as I have in this case,” the DA added.
She said the family’s home was known as a place where teens could drink in the open with the Raos’ knowledge.
“Sumanth and Anindita Rao have a long-standing, repeated pattern of allowing teenagers to drink in their home,” Boston said. “Halloween, homecoming, the last day of school — the Raos’ home was the party house where teens could freely consume alcohol without interference from the adults who lived there, the adults who should have accepted responsibility.”
Boston described the crash and Lekiachvili’s death as a “foreseeable consequence” of allowing the teens to drink and then drive away.
“It’s a miracle that nothing happened prior to Feb. 24,” Boston said. “The Raos’ careless behavior has likely impacted hundreds of children over the years, and it is time they are held accountable.”
Former prosecutor Chuck Boring said the length of time between the crash and indictments indicates that Boston’s office has “done a lot of homework, and investigation, and reflection before deciding to file these charges.”
According to Boring, prosecutors will likely need to prove that the Raos knew the driver had been drinking the night of the crash and conclusively establish the pattern of permissiveness that Boston alleged in her statement Wednesday.
For the Raos to be convicted of their highest charge, involuntary manslaughter, Boring said prosecutors must prove that the parents’ negligence was the root cause of the crash.
Veteran Atlanta-based defense attorney Don Samuel said he thought the case was “risky” for the DA’s office, and he raised multiple points of contention.
First, he delineated between parents who supply alcohol to underage drinkers versus those who merely turn a blind eye. Samuel explained that linking the parents to the criminal outcome becomes less clear-cut if the adults did not purchase or willingly share the alcohol.
He also pointed out the low BAC threshold for drivers under the age of 21. If the driver was obviously impaired, Samuel said, the Raos might have had a duty to stop the teen from driving, similar to a bartender.
“But to have two or three glasses of wine and end up at .04 (blood-alcohol content), you wouldn’t even necessarily know about it,” Samuel told the AJC.
Sumanth and Anindita Rao were also both indicted on counts of reckless conduct and maintaining a disorderly house, according to court documents. Anindita Rao was booked Wednesday into the DeKalb jail and released later that day on $25,000 bond. Sumanth Rao was out of town, Boston said, but she added that county officials have been in contact with his attorney.
The recent mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder is the most notable recent case in which a parent has faced serious charges alongside their child.
Colt Gray, 14, was indicted on 55 charges in connection with the September shooting that resulted in four deaths. Colin Gray, the alleged shooter’s father, was indicted on 29 counts, including multiple counts of second-degree murder. According to the testimony of GBI agents, Colin Gray bought the Sig Sauer M400 used in the shooting and gave it to his son for Christmas. The agents said he later bought ammunition, sights and larger magazines for the weapon.
The Raos’ prosecution also echoes a 2009 case in Cobb County, in which a woman supplied alcohol to her teenage stepson and his friends, including 16-year-old Garrett Reed, who later drove under the influence and died in a crash. Kecia Whitfield was found guilty of five counts of furnishing alcohol to minors but acquitted of reckless conduct. She was sentenced to 18 months in jail, followed by 2½ years on probation.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
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