By Rosana Hughes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ATLANTA 鈥� An ambulance driver who police said lost control of his medical transport van, leading to a crash that killed two people earlier this year, won鈥檛 spend time behind bars.
It was 19-year-old John R. Walker鈥檚 first day on the job when the crash took place in southwest Atlanta on March 20, killing his coworker, 29-year-old paramedic Ti鈥橯uita Miles, and the driver of the SUV, 29-year-old Jada Whatley. He was charged with two counts of second-degree vehicular homicide, failure to maintain lane and speeding.
Walker鈥檚 trial started last week and ended abruptly on Friday when proceedings turned into a plea hearing, Channel 2 Action News reported. Prosecutors dropped all of the charges except for speeding, his attorney, Jackie 鈥淭he Fly Lawyer鈥� Patterson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Walker had been driving at 53 mph in a 35-mph zone, his warrant stated.
As a result, Walker was sentenced to a year on probation and will have to pay a $1,000 fine, Patterson said.
The victims鈥� mothers were in court for the trial when it turned into a plea hearing and said they felt justice had not been served, according to Channel 2 .
鈥淭hey made a mockery out of my child鈥檚 death,鈥� Whatley鈥檚 mother, Cheryl Price-Harris, said.
鈥淚鈥檓 sick physically. I鈥檓 sick mentally. I鈥檓 spiritually broken behind all of this, and today, today I gotta go home and be broken,鈥� she struggled to add through tears.
Walker apologized to the families in court, saying he wished it was him who had died, the news station reported.
鈥�(I want to) emphasize how much myself and my client sympathize with the victims鈥� families because no parent should have to bury their children,鈥� Patterson told the AJC.
That day in March, Walker was he dropped his phone and briefly looked down, the AJC previously reported. They were in the 4000 block of Campbellton Road near the Fairburn neighborhood, and when he looked back up, there was a car stopped in the road, causing him to lose control of the van.
The van struck the right curb, left the road and then re-entered into incoming traffic. That is when it struck Whatley鈥檚 SUV head-on. Whatley was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown from the vehicle. She died at the scene.
The patient who was being transported also sustained injuries, but they were not life-threatening.
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