Raquel Nelson, Mom Convicted After Son Killed In Hit And Run: 'This Will Never End' (VIDEO)

AP:

MARIETTA, Ga. -- A Georgia woman received a year of probation on Tuesday in the jaywalking death of her 4-year-old son, but the judge also made the unusual move of offering her a chance to clear her name at a new trial. The mother of two surviving children says she's satisfied with the outcome of the hearing.

Raquel Nelson was convicted by a jury this month of vehicular homicide for allowing her son to dart into the busy street north of Atlanta in April. She could have received as many as three years in prison – which would have been a much longer sentence than the one for the hit-and-run driver who struck the boy.

Nelson appeared happy as she left the court and thanked those who had helped and supported her.

"I'm walking out of here. I don't feel like I can be more satisfied," she said. "I'm ready to go home."

Judge Kathryn Tanksley gave the 30-year-old woman a sentence that also includes 40 hours of community service, but she made the surprising offer of a new trial. If Nelson is found innocent, her record would be cleared. Her attorney David Savoy said they plan to take the judge up on the offer.

The death happened as Nelson was attempting to cross a busy five-lane street in Cobb County to get to her apartment after getting off a local bus, Savoy said.

The stop is about three-tenths of a mile from the nearest crosswalk, so Nelson and her family routinely crossed the middle of the street. She led her family to a median in the middle of the road and as they waited for traffic to die down, her daughter bolted across the street and her son followed. She chased after them when a van struck.

The driver, Jerry Guy, was sentenced to six months after pleading guilty to hit-and-run.

Some have expressed outrage at the handling of the case. It's rare for someone to be tried and convicted on the homicide charge for crossing the street away from the crosswalk, a pedestrian advocate said.

"It's really cruel and a big waste of taxpayer money," said Sally Flocks, founder of PEDS, an Atlanta pedestrian advocacy group. "What is anybody going to learn from this? Raquel lost her precious son. The lesson she learned already is quit using transit and buy a car to get around. It's too dangerous to cross the streets here."

Read the whole story: AP

Comments

[TheBusChallenge]

01:36 PM on 08/01/2011

It's entrapment. The city sets up the bus system with the intention that you cross in the middle of the street, and then charges you when you do. It's sick.

http://thebuschallenge.wordpress.com/2011/08/01/entrapment-at-the-bus-stop/

[tmacspin]

07:13 PM on 07/26/2011

Sentencing today - nice to see a travesty was avoided. whew!
http://honestdespot.blogspot.com/

[hemorrhage]

02:15 PM on 07/26/2011

This is not an excuse for a drunk driver, who should have received a much stiffer sentence, nor is it directly a response to this story. Pedestrians, drivers, bikers: we all have to have predictable behavior. Roads will be a lot safer for all if we all are predictable in our behavior. Others respond to our actions and if it is something unexpected someone can respond in a split second with deadly consequences. Please be aware.

[Seymoreclearly]

02:34 PM on 07/26/2011

I think the crux here is that the actions of a 4-yr old can be very unpredictable & sometimes end in tragedy.

[hemorrhage]

02:51 PM on 07/26/2011

Obviously the drunk driver in this case makes any call for predictability on my part seem a little ridiculous in this individual case, but my point was more of a larger concern than about this tragedy. Predictability is key for safety on roads.

This was not a case of a 4 year old running away from a parent, but of a mother jaywalking with her kids (mind you, I probably jay walk most every day) and, sadly, there was a drunk driver approaching

[gemini68]

01:15 PM on 07/26/2011

This sickens me. Why are Drunk Drivers continually given a slap on the wrist? And most of them are repeat offenders? Our justice system is so screwed up its embarrassing.

[motoGpifupleez]

11:22 PM on 07/26/2011

They have the money to pay the fine and in America, that's all that matters.

[mothergrace]

12:23 PM on 07/26/2011

Well, not that she should have been brought to trial at all, let alone convicted, but at least she has apparently received probation which will allow her to go home and grieve and take care of her other children.

[womenforaction]

12:47 AM on 07/26/2011

Raquel did not cross at the street light because it was the dark side of the street; she crossed in the middle of the road with her three children, instead. Let’s not forget that the drunk driver who killed her child, had only served six months, has had three other DUI convictions.

This is a case when something awful happened and the courts feel that someone has to really pay. So since the driver wasn’t convicted, she may be facing 30 years in prison including being away from her two daughters.

This woman is grief-stricken, has other children to raise and feels awful about the decision she made that night. When she thought she was making a better decision for her and children’s safety, it turned out to be a deadly one.

[gmb007]

12:11 AM on 07/26/2011

Mothers and children - pedestrians - ALWAYS have the right-of-way, whether they're in a city crosswalk or on some unmarked rural road.

SOBER drivers who can SEE, unlike the killer, can usually take preventative/evasive action to avoid hitting people, whether those people are jaywalking or not.

It's a driver's DUTY to always expect the unexpected - especially involving children.

[MizKatz]

11:07 PM on 07/25/2011

Given that this happened in Georgia, one wonders if the judge would have treated Raquel Nelson any differently if she were white.

[Erin Blanghley]

10:47 PM on 07/25/2011

The Cobb County DA in Marrietta, GA:

Patrick H. Head, District Attorney
10 East Park Square
Marietta, GA 30090
[phone]
[phone] fax
Email: [e-mail]

[icstars]

09:00 PM on 07/25/2011

She is seriously expected to walk over half a mile (down and back) to a crosswalk? I have never seen a bus stop that was not at a crosswalk or within about 50 feet of one.

Her four-year-old could just as easily have darted out at a crosswalk or on the way to it. I feel very sorry for this woman, carrying groceries and trying to mind three children. This was a terrible tragedy that she'll never forget.

I can easily understand and sympathize with her plight, but the driver is another story. Leaving the scene of an accident in which you hit a person--a child!? If he didn't immediately try to call 911, he should possibly be charged with more than leaving the scene. The full article didn't mention how long it took for an ambulance to be called or when the boy died.

[graciesgra]

09:45 PM on 07/25/2011

I agree. With his history he should have gotten a lot more jail time. So easy to blame the mother. Also, it's true what she said about the jury not really being a jury of her peers. If they don't have to ride the bus to get groceries and take children with them, they don't have a clue.

[tmacspin]

08:14 PM on 07/25/2011

The charges against this mother are just WRONG. http://honestdespot.blogspot.com/

[cmfrtblebbw]

07:36 PM on 07/25/2011

Because it's Georgia...nuff said.

[maxfax]

07:44 PM on 07/25/2011

Place that blame on the authority that is prosecuting her.

[kyllei]

06:23 PM on 07/25/2011

My Mom was killed by a guy who ran a stop sign, he didn't even get a ticket.

[graciesgra]

09:46 PM on 07/25/2011

What state was that?

[kyllei]

02:22 PM on 07/27/2011

Kentucky.

[Seymoreclearly]

02:36 PM on 07/26/2011

I'm very sorry to hear this and am sending you condolences for your loss. I can't even begin to imagine.

[kyllei]

02:25 PM on 07/27/2011

Thanks so much, your condolences are greatly appreciated.

[BlindChance]

05:23 PM on 07/25/2011

All the people who are cheering the skewed judicial system for charging and convicting this grieving woman of jaywalking, I ask you this: do you really think that drunkard with a history of hit and runs would have yielded to Ms. Nelson and her children had they been in the crosswalk?

[maxfax]

07:26 PM on 07/25/2011

Great point, likely he wouldn't and he can only see out of one eye and admittedly had been drinking.

[ivoteforsmartpeople]

05:07 PM on 07/25/2011

OK, let's LOOK at this....

There is a bus stop - but she has to walk The Length of FIVE Football Fields with her Groceries and Three Children just to Cross the Road to her home???

Who designed That CF?

[icstars]

08:35 PM on 07/25/2011

I thought that myself. And to top it off, by going to that crosswalk, it requires you to cross yet another street with groceries and the three children.