On April 30 of this year on a busy interstate here in Atlanta, a Ms. Katherine Armstrong was killed when involved in a collision with an armored truck on a busy interstate highway in Atlanta. The driver of the truck was later charged with vehicular homicide. Ms. Armstrong was cleared of any wrongdoing. Based on what we have learned about this tragic incident, however, the emotional, psychological, physical and monetary damage caused by this wrongful death incident does not stop with the death itself but continues.
Ms. Armstrong was airlifted to the Grady Memorial Hospital following this incident. When she got there, a hospital employee by the name of Tacuma Jawara stole her wedding and engagement rings. This despicable crime was uncovered and the employee was charged with felony theft by taking. Thus, not only did the Armstrong family lose the life of a loved one, they had to undergo the indignity of a hospital employee stealing from a victim of this tragedy. Apparently Grady never conducted a thorough investigation of this gentlemen, for whatever reason, even though as we understand it, he has now been charged with yet another offense arising from a similar theft incident.
The victim’s husband is now left to raise by himself young children ages 1, 4 and 5. Not only did he lose his wife to an apparent vehicular homicide, he was further victimized by a criminal who essentially desecrated his wife’s body and committed acts that are totally and completely despicable. While this is bad enough, the fact remains that the emotional and psychological wreckage from this wrongful death incident unfortunately is only just beginning.
We see in our wrongful death practice tragedies similar to this all too often. The innocent victims of these tragic occurrences are left to themselves to pick up the pieces. Their families have been destroyed. Not only are there emotional scars, the young children obviously will have coping difficulties with the loss of their mother and the father/widower is now left to raise his family without the benefit of the mother’s and wife’s assistance. In short, the losses caused by these wrongful death tragedies are devastating but when criminal acts are involved, it is compounded almost beyond endurance.
When a crime is involved in the underlying act such as a driver under the influence of drugs or alcohol or some other aggravating circumstance, the full extent of the law should be utilized to make sure that those responsible for the wrongdoing are punished. We do not have sufficient information to determine the moral culpability of the truck driver who has been charged with vehicular homicide. However, based on what we have read, there can be no question about the moral culpability of the thief who preyed upon this family’s tragedy. We trust that the Court will impose the maximum sentence available under the law to punish this man for his transgressions. This family deserved better.
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