Man sentenced to 5 years in hit-and-run that killed 16-year-old girl

Robert Huynh

Robert Huynh

Robert Thien-An Huynh scrubbed nearly every part of his Honda Fit clean.

Huynh, 20, had hit a 16-year-old on the night of June 19, 2017, as she was walking along Ga. 81 in McDonough just before 10 p.m., Henry County officials said. Huynh kept going and left Tasia Marie Gatner for dead.

But all that effort to hide the crime didn’t go as planed: Investigators linked a part of the car discovered at the crash scene to his Honda.

RELATED: Man pleads not guilty in hit-and-run crash that killed 16-year-old girl

On Thursday, Huynh pleaded guilty to felony hit-and-run and misdemeanor tampering with evidence and failure to report an accident, the Henry County District Attorney’s Office said. He was sentenced to five years in prison followed by 24 months on probation.

Authorities said Gatner was with another teenager when she ran across the highway. Witnesses told officers that Huynh hit the girl and kept driving.

After the crash, officials said Huynh bleached his car to clean off the blood and burned off the hairs on his windshield before taking it to a body shop.

As part of Huynh’s probation, he must speak to high school students each semester, complete 80 hours of community service and undergo mental health treatment.

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