Fulton County's top prosecutor says his office is investigating whether the 28-year-old motorist who is accused of crashing into three young boys — killing one — in Northwest Atlanta Friday should face a more severe charge.
At issue, Fulton District Attorney Paul Howard said, is whether Ryan Lisabeth of Canton intentionally drove up on the sidewalk where the three boys were standing near Joseph E. Boone Boulevard and Mayson Turner Road. One of the victims, Isaiah Ward, 9, was taken off life support Sunday afternoon.
Atlanta police said Lisabeth was traveling fast on Joseph E. Boone Boulevard when he crossed the centerline of the road and struck a passing truck in the rear. He drove onto a sidewalk where he struck the three children, causing them to be thrown in different directions. He continued and struck a second vehicle before his became disabled.
Lisabeth — who has a long history of DUI and drug convictions — is now facing many new charges, including vehicular homicide in the first degree, driving under the influence of drugs and possession of a controlled substance. He was denied bond Monday.
“It’s a tragedy in every dimension,” said Howard, who added his office is also trying to identify and bring to justice the person who sold the drugs allegedly found in Lisabeth’s possession Friday.
Lisabeth’s attorney did not respond to requests for comment this week. Efforts to reach his relatives were also unsuccessful.
Howard noted that he has created a task force to fight the opioid and heroin overdose epidemic now raging across Fulton County and the rest of the nation. The prosecutor said he hopes Friday's tragedy in Northwest Atlanta will be a turning point in the fight against that epidemic. Lisabeth has prior convictions for heroin, cocaine and marijuana possession in Fulton and Cherokee counties, court records show.
“This is an innocent nine-year-old child, and looking at this guy’s record you have got to say that heroin has a lot to do with that child being dead,” Howard said. If Lisabeth, Howard continued, “had been treated appropriately, the hope would be logically that this would not have happened.”
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