Christa Scott to keep DUI wreck victim's picture during 10-year sentence

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Autumn Griner wanted a reminder of her slain son to stay with Christa Scott – at least until the end of Scott’s sentence for killing Jordan Griner.

Enlarge photo

Phil Skinner, AJC A sobbing Christa Scott sits down with her family before she struggled to read her prepared statement during an emotional press conference at her attorney David Wolfe's downtown Atlanta offices on Thursday, June 24th.

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Friday, a Fulton County Superior Court Judge gave Griner her wish.

Scott was convicted of wrongful death and driving under the influence last month and Friday was ordered to serve five years of a 10-year prison sentence, serving the remaining time on probation.

And then, there’s Autumn Griner's request.

"They felt like having his photo, even as she is in prison, would be a source of a constant reminder for her of how the consequences of drinking and driving had affected an exemplary young man," assistant Fulton County district attorney Clint Rucker said.

Jordan Griner was a 24-year-old intern in then-Gov. Sonny Perdue’s administration, and by all accounts, a young man with a bright future, likely in politics.

Around 4 a.m. on June 19, 2010, Scott, 27, had a blood-alcohol level of .229, nearly three times the legal limit, when her Ford Mustang blew through a red light and slammed into Jordan Griner's car.

Police said Scott was returning home from her job as a bartender at Door 44, a club on 12th Street in Midtown.

Autumn Griner said she’s having difficulty processing her son’s death, even more than a year later.

"Every morning I wake up I pray it's not real,” she said. “And when I do open my eyes... I’m angry to still be here and to know that it is real."

Emotions were raw in court Friday as Scott offered a tearful apology to Jordan Griner’s family.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”

Autumn Griner had no sympathy.

“You should’ve thought of that before you got in the car,” she shot back at Scott.

Jordan Griner’s older sister, Tammi Griner-Horn, was even more abrupt.

“Justice to me would have been if Jordan would have lived and Christa Scott would have died that fateful morning,” Griner-Horn said.

-- Channel 2 Action News reporter Carl Willis contributed to this article.