Police in Cobb County, Ga., have charged a 16-year-old boy with second-degree vehicular homicide after the vehicle he was driving crashed, killing his mother.
Police say the two were on their way to an orthodontist appointment when their car was hit at an intersection in the northern suburbs of Atlanta.
Police say the boy -- whose name is being withheld because he is a juvenile -- was trying to turn left into the intersection, but his view was obstructed by a truck. When he pulled into the intersection his car was hit by two oncoming vehicles. One hit the passenger door killing his mother, 45-year-old Kimberly Michelle Nichols.
Police say he is being charged with homicide by vehicle in the second degree.
The boy’s father, Michael Mosley, is telling Atlanta media outlets he is furious with the Cobb County Police, insisting his son made a legal turn into the intersection.
“We just got over a funeral for her,” Mosley told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “And he’s trying to start to heal just a little bit. He got to live with this the rest of his life. Everyone else in the accident does too. There’s no reason to charge my son with … second degree homicide in an accident.”
Police filed the charges Monday.
Why put any more burdens on the boys shoulders. He already lost his mom and probably feels like a piece of crap. What more can you put him through? It was an accident, not like he was recklessly driving. I pray for this family.
This was an accident – this child did not purposely cause this chain of events in an effort to hurt anyone. He was an extremely inexperienced driver – we ALL were at one time!
The fact the accident had such a horrible outcome doesn’t change the fact that it was an accident.
Hello Deb:
You wrote:
I rewrote a Handbook for Responsible Driving for Parents and Teens years ago that I distributed to all Cobb County teens for years. Maybe it is time to revisit the basics of this handbook for all parents and teens of driving age.
I am the executive director of the Center for Sustainable Journalism, where the JJIE.org is housed. How might we work together to reissue this handbook via the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange?
Although I have a hard time agreeing with the police for charging the youth for the death of his mother, it seems he did not have the right of way and turned into an oncoming car. If the view was obstructed by the truck, he should have waited until he had a clear view. This is a very dangerous intersection and the speed limit should not be 55 and it should be a turn with arrow only intersection. I was hit at another intersection just 1/4 mile from there by a driver that did just the same thing. I rewrote a Handbook for Responsible Driving for Parents and Teens years ago that I distributed to all Cobb County teens for years. Maybe it is time to revisit the basics of this handbook for all parents and teens of driving age