Suspect in fatal Midtown wreck leaves jail after posting bond

By Larry Hartstein and Rhonda Cook

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The woman charged in the wreck that killed a governor's intern bonded out of the Fulton County jail Monday night.

Christa Scott, who was on her way home from work at a Midtown nightclub when the crash occurred, waived her first court appearance Monday morning at the jail. A judge set bond at $100,000 and scheduled a preliminary hearing for July 6.

Scott bonded out and left at 10:20 p.m. without making any statements to the media. She was escorted to a waiting car by Fulton County sheriff's deputy.

Earlier Monday, Scott's attorney, Parag Y. Shah, told reporters, "Our prayers go out to the young man's family. Her family is devastated, as I'm sure his is too."

Shah declined to answer a reporter's questions about Scott's activities the night of the wreck.

Scott, 26, had a blood-alcohol level of .229, nearly three times the legal limit, when her Ford Mustang convertible slammed into Jordan Griner's car about 4 a.m. Saturday in Midtown, police said.

Atlanta police Public Affairs Director Carlos Campos said Monday that Scott was returning home from her job at Door 44, a club on 12th Street in Midtown. Scott lives at a condominium complex on Lenox Road in Buckhead, Campos said.

Door 44, the former site of Nomenclature, opened in 2008 and bills itself as "Atlanta's Next Evolution in Nightlife," according to its Web site. The club's schedule for Friday night lists an event known as "Scallywags' Ball," sponsored by Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum. The event was scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. Last call for Atlanta bars is 2 a.m.

Campos said he did not know what Scott's job at the club was. Messages left at Door 44 and with the club's registered agent were not immediately returned.

Scott is charged with first-degree vehicular homicide, DUI and reckless driving.

Griner, 24, was a couple blocks from his Atlantic Station apartment when the crash occurred. Atlanta police said Scott ran a red light on West Peachtree Street and hit Griner's car at 17th Street. Scott was traveling north on West Peachtree in her convertible when she hit the driver's door of Griner's car, also a Mustang, police said.

Fire crews had to extricate Griner, who was pronounced dead at Grady Memorial Hospital.

"Now she's sitting in a jail cell and I've got to go pick out a box to put my son in," Griner's mother, Autumn Griner, said Sunday from Augusta. "It just doesn't seem right."

The young man's father, Toni Griner, reacted angrily to news that Scott had driven away from a nightclub while intoxicated.

"Everybody knew she was drunk, and still nobody stopped her," he said Sunday night from Augusta.

Jordan Griner, an Augusta native and University of Georgia graduate, was acting as a designated driver when the crash occurred.

He had just dropped off three friends after a party. They were celebrating the end of their six-month government fellowships and Griner's selection for another fellowship with the state's chief financial officer.

"His girlfriend was coming home Saturday, he didn't want to drink, so he volunteered to be the designated driver, make sure everybody got home safe," said Patrick Smith, the last friend Griner dropped off before heading home. "To have the designated driver be killed by a drunk driver is ... pretty terrible."

Gov. Sonny Perdue called Griner "a bright and shining star."

Griner worked in the governor's Constituent Office for nearly a year, first as an intern then as a fellow, and learned Friday he had gotten a six-month fellowship down the hall.

"He loved the people there and he was so excited that he was getting to stay [at the Capitol]," Autumn Griner said, choking back tears. "Everything was working out."

On his Facebook page, Griner described his work for the governor:

"I answer people's angry phone calls, run stuff between offices, keep things stocked, help prepare things to be sent, and pretty much just make the Georgia government run smoothly. You're Welcome Georgia!!!!!"

Griner planned to work on a Republican campaign this fall. Ultimately, he hoped to become a U.S. senator.

"He told me that he wanted to be a senator, not a mayor or a governor, because if you're elected for a four-year term, you only get to do things for two years and then you have to start campaigning again," Autumn Griner said. "He said, ‘A senator is elected for six years; that would give me four or five years to make some real changes.'"

Griner's other plans included marrying his longtime girlfriend, becoming a Mason and continuing to help animals, his parents said. Autumn Griner asked that memorial donations be made to the Humane Society of the United States, one of her son's favorite organizations.

Perdue released this statement: "Jordan Griner excelled in a variety of roles over the past few months, and our entire Governor's Office family will deeply miss his enthusiastic smile, joyful personality and willingness to help others. He was loved by both staff and his fellow interns, and Mary and I are deeply saddened by this sudden loss."

Perdue spoke to Autumn Griner by phone after learning of the intern's death, his office said.

"I thought that was extremely good of him," said Toni Griner.

An Augusta firefighter for 35 years, Toni Griner said he'd seen countless people die. The children haunted him, especially those who were the same age as his. None of those deaths prepared him for the loss of his own son though, and he knows it will hit hard if he sees another young man die.

"It doesn't prepare you for something happening direct," he said. "Can you still perform your duties? Yes, but your heart will be bursting out."

Smith, Jordan Griner's passenger, said Griner was universally liked.

"He was a super-sweet guy, nice to everybody, and beyond that he was incredibly bright and did his job well," Smith said.

During college, Griner worked for UGA Campus Transit as a van driver.

Smith said Griner always was a cautious driver.

On their way to the party Friday night in Buckhead, Smith said they were running late, but Griner wouldn't speed up.

"He drove kind of slow, and I was starting to get frustrated," Smith recalled.

Griner dropped him off about 4 a.m., after driving home two other friends.

"I thanked him for being a safe driver, for driving me home," Smith said. "And then he drove two blocks farther and was killed."

The funeral is scheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday at Elliott Sons Funeral Home, 2524 Lumpkin Rd. in Augusta, with visitation from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday.

--Staff writers Alexis Stevens, Ty Tagami and Kristi E. Swartz contributed to this report.