A hit-and-run driver who struck and killed a 16-year-old girl last October pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and other charges Monday.
Marcia Demarcus, 42, was high on drugs when she plowed into Caelyn Olds and Linda Long in Fayetteville, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.
The teenager and woman were handing out literature from Middle Fayette Church of Christ, where Olds’ stepfather, Nicholas Adams, is a preacher.
Long’s husband chased after Demarcus, who drove off without stopping after the crash, and wrote down the license plate number for police.
Channel 2 Action News reported from court Monday afternoon.
“I was thrown down the hill,” Long said. “When I came to myself, I started screaming for Caelyn; she didn't answer.”
Donald Money, the girl’s grandfather, said that Demarcus shouldn’t have been driving at the time of the crash.
“I'm told the person who crushed the life out of Caelyn had so many traffic violations that she didn't even have a driver’s license,” Money said.
The sadness and stress of Olds’ death led Money to need heart surgery, he told the news station.
But despite the heartache, Adams said they won’t hold onto hatred.
“Our family harbors no ill will or malice toward the offender,” the stepfather said.
Judge Fletcher Sams said this case touched a sore spot for him because he, too, lost a loved one to an intoxicated driver, Channel 2 reported.
Demarcus was sentenced to 30 years, with 15 to serve in prison and 15 on probation afterward.
“You owe Caelyn and her family a lifetime of sobriety,” Sams said.
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