A jury deliberated for four days before finding Aimee Michael guilty of causing the horrific Easter Sunday 2009 hit-and-run crash that killed 5 people, including 3 children.
The jury found Michael guilty on all counts, which means she could be sentenced to life in prison.
Police say Michael, now 24, was on an ice cream run in her mother’s champagne-colored BMW 740 iL on April 12, 2009, when her car collided with a Mercedes 230 in the lane next to hers on Camp Creek Parkway.
The Mercedes, driven by Robert Carter, was sent hurtling into oncoming traffic and hit a Volkswagen Beetle head-on. Mr. Carter, his wife Delisia, plus their 2-month-old son, Ethan Carter, and Delisia Carter’s daughter Kayla Lemons, 9, were killed in the fiery collision.
The driver of the VW, Tracie Johnson, 43, was airlifted to a local hospital with multiple broken bones and other life-threatening injuries.
Johnson (pictured on the right with her family) survived her injuries, but her daughter, Morgan Johnson, 6, was killed in the crash.
Michael fled the scene immediately after the accident, setting off an intense manhunt for the hit-and-run driver and the BMW. In the days following the accident, Michael enlisted the aid of her mother — an elementary school principal at the time — to repair the BMW and cover up evidence.
Michael was arrested on April 23, 2009, after a neighbor saw the BMW being repaired in the Michaels’ driveway and called in a tip to police.
According to the AJC, the Fulton County Superior Court jury that decided Michael’s fate began deliberating at about 4 p.m. Wednesday following the weeklong presentation of evidence. They worked until 5:30 p.m. then returned to their deliberations at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, breaking for a brief lunch.
Around 2:30 pm today the jury asked to see the final 90 minutes of Aimee Michael’s videotaped interview with police. During the interrogation, Michael admitted fleeing the scene after causing the accident.
But Michael’s lawyer, W. Scott Smith, blamed the deceased driver of the Mercedes for the accident. The prosecution presented two accident experts who placed the blame for the tragedy squarely on Michael’s shoulders.
“She fled. She ran. She left those people burning. What innocent person would do that?” said lead prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Tanya Miller, during her closing argument Wednesday.
Judge Kimberly M. Esmond Adams could sentence Michael to the maximum sentence of life in prison, or as little as 3 years behind bars.
Aimee’s mother, Sheila Michael, 53, pleaded guilty Monday to tampering with evidence and hindering the apprehension of a criminal. She is in the Fulton County jail awaiting sentencing.
Michael previously rejected a plea deal of 50 years in prison.
