ATLANTA - A metro Atlanta woman could face decades in prison after being convicted Monday of causing a collision that killed five people on Easter Sunday 2009, speeding away from the fiery crash and hiding from police for almost two weeks until a tip from suspicious neighbors led to her arrest.
Aimee Michael, 24, was convicted of vehicular homicide, hit-and-run and tampering with evidence by hiring a mechanic to fix her BMW after she triggered the chain-reaction wreck. She was also found guilty of causing a serious injury by vehicle and several misdemeanor traffic violations.
The jury had begun deliberating Wednesday.
Michael's trial began Oct. 20 on an unusual note, as defense attorney Scott Smith told jurors there was no doubt his client fled the busy south Atlanta road after the collision. He later flatly told them to find her guilty of six counts of hit-and-run and one count of tampering with evidence.
He urged them, however, to acquit her of vehicular homicide charges that carry decades of prison time.
Smith told jurors tire tracks and other evidence indicated Michael's car was sideswiped by another vehicle.
``There are serious gaps in the state's case. Those gaps are as clear as day,'' Smith said during closing arguments Wednesday. ``You're now being asked to put together a puzzle but you might not have all the tools to do it.''
Prosecutors said evidence from the wreckage and testimony from eyewitnesses and investigators were enough to prove Michael caused the wreck. But they contended the most damaging evidence against Michael was her own behavior: She sped away from the scene and then concealed her role in the crash.
``This case is so simple. You know that Aimee Michael is guilty. You know she caused this crash because that is what the evidence showed you,'' said Tanya Miller, a Fulton County prosecutor. ``She fled. She ran. She left those people burning. What innocent person would do that?''
On the day of the crash, Michael had borrowed her parents' BMW to pick up vanilla ice cream. Her car switched lanes on a busy four-lane road in south Atlanta and crashed into a Mercedes carrying Robert and Delisia Carter, their newborn son, Ethan, and Delisia's 9-year-old daughter, Kayla.
Both vehicles were forced into oncoming traffic, colliding with the Volkswagen Beetle carrying Tracie Johnson and her six-year-old daughter Morgan.
All four passengers in the Carters' vehicle were killed in the fiery crash. In the Volkswagen, Morgan Johnson was killed. Morgan's mother, Tracie, survived but suffered a broken hip, collarbone and legs.
Police who swarmed the scene were told that the BMW involved in the wreck fled.
For almost two weeks frustrated authorities searched in vain for the vehicle.
They didn't track down Michael until they received a tip from a neighbor who noticed her acting suspiciously, Miller said.
After Michael was arrested, investigators said they soon discovered that she had paid a mechanic to come to her family's home and fix the damaged BMW to hide the evidence.
Her mother, 52-year-old former school teacher Sheila Michael, also faces prison time for her role in the cover-up. She pleaded guilty last week to two counts of tampering with evidence and hindering the apprehension of a criminal. She is likely to be sentenced later this month.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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May 8th, 2025
12:06AM
