Ryan Lisabeth is expected to enter a plea Thursday on charges that he drove under the influence of heroin and smashed his car into three boys in Northwest Atlanta last year, killing one and seriously injuring two others, according to the Fulton County District Attorney’s office.
Lisabeth, who is from Canton, has been charged with three counts of vehicular homicide, six counts of serious injury by vehicle, possession of heroin, driving under the influence of drugs, reckless driving and driving on the wrong side of the road. He faces 49 years in prison.
His case was the subject of an extensive article in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last year. The AJC also reported that he admitted to driving under the influence of drugs in Atlanta but was found not guilty of the charge in March of last year, a month before police say he drove high again and mowed down the three boys.
Prosecutors say Lisabeth injected heroin before speeding down Joseph E. Boone Boulevard, veering over the center line and driving up onto the sidewalk where he struck the three children.
Isaiah Ward, 9, died from injuries he sustained in the crash. His older brother, 11-year-old Roland, suffered a broken leg and pelvis. And a friend, Timothy Hood, 13, suffered a fractured skull and a traumatic brain injury before falling into a coma.
Fulton Superior Court Judge Henry Newkirk is scheduled to hear Lisabeth’s plea at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.
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