Aimee Michael, a 40-year-old Georgia woman, was released on parole last year after serving 14 years of a 36-year sentence for fleeing the scene of an Easter Sunday car accident in which she was involved. The accident involved four vehicles and led to the deaths of five people. Michael’s attorney raised questions about whether there was sufficient evidence to prove the accident was entirely her fault.
The fact that she fled the scene and tried to conceal her involvement was a major factor in the lengthy sentence.
The Union Recorder says during the trial, her attorney “told jurors tire tracks and other evidence indicated Michael’s car was sideswiped by another vehicle.” They quoted him as saying, “There are serious gaps in the state’s case. Those gaps are as clear as day. You’re now being asked to put together a puzzle but you might not have all the tools to do it.”
Prosecutors stated that in an interrogation, Michael never told them she was struck first, and an eye witness testified Michael’s car was the one that first hit another.
Meanwhile, prosecutors pointed to eyewitness testimony, the wreckage, and the fact that Michael fled to convince jurors she was the driver at fault, the report notes.
In a Facebook discussion about Michaels’ prison release, one commenter showed her empathy, writing, “If she had stayed, it would not have made a difference. No one could save the 5 people that transitioned. It was a different type of hit and run. I recall the the female judge crying. She clearly allowed her emotions to dictate the sentencing. It was clearly an accident with no malice intent.”
At the same time, a woman who was related to four of the victims spoke out to tell Atlanta’s WSB-TV 2 that she was angered by hearing that Michael was free, and called the 14 years she spent in prison “a slap on the hand.”
“I’m so disappointed. I’m disappointed in our justice system. She caused five deaths — four of them were my family. She needs to sit there and think about what she did,” the Fox 5 Atlanta says the family member told them. They also say she expressed a wish that Michael had been required to serve all 36 years.
Aimee Michael, Now 40, Was 22 When She Fled the Scene of a Catastrophic Accident on Camp Creek Parkway in Georgia
At the time of the incident, Michael was a 22-year-old psychology major who had recently graduated from the University of Pittsburgh, and had plans to pursue business school. She was enjoying Easter Sunday at home with her parents when she headed out to pick up some ice cream and collided with another vehicle on Camp Creek Parkway, the AJC says. The paper explains, “Both vehicles cross the center line, and the Mercedes slams head-on into a 2006 Volkswagen Beetle driven by Tracie Johnson, 43. A Honda Accord, driven by Angela Kilpatrick of Powder Springs, was also hit.”
Michael did not confess her involvement in the accident to law enforcement until she was taken into custody and interrogated 11 days after the incident, according to public reports. Police located her after a suspicious neighbor tipped them off,
Her mother Sheila, who helped her get the car fixed instead of encouraging her to turn herself in, was sentenced to 8 years for tampering with evidence and hindering the apprehension of a criminal.
Aimee Michael Out on Parole After Serving 14 Years for Fleeing the Scene of Fatal 2009 Easter Sunday Accident