Jasmine Gaither was creative and artistic, with a passion for photography. The 31-year-old wanted to make a difference, her family said.
But her dreams ended when she was struck and killed in December 2021 by a driver who ran away from the crash. Earlier this month, a jury convicted that driver, Lester Rodriguez-Cabrera, 42, of Acworth, of first-degree vehicular homicide, hit-and-run and various other crimes. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
On Dec. 3, 2021, there was a four-vehicle crash on I-85 southbound near North Druid Hills Road, DeKalb County police previously said. Those involved pulled to the side of the interstate and waited for help, including Gaither, a passenger in a friend’s car.
According to investigators, Gaither was standing outside the car on the shoulder of the highway when Rodriguez-Cabrera, driving more than 100 miles per hour, failed to maintain his lane and clipped a car next to him. Rodriguez-Cabrera then hit the median, collided with the same car again, and traveled across every lane of traffic, striking Gaither, police said.
“Witnesses saw Rodriguez-Cabrera climb out of the window of the truck he was driving and run from the scene,” the DeKalb district attorney’s office said in an emailed statement. “The crash was recorded by another driver’s dash camera.”
Gaither was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, the same hospital where she was born. Her sister, Brittany Flournoy, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution she got to see her sister briefly, but Gaither’s brain injury was too severe. She died from her injuries, less than three weeks before her 32nd birthday.
For the family, it was the second tragedy in less than two months. On Oct. 25, 2021, the siblings lost their mother, Tomeka Ivery, who was killed in a crash in Atlanta, Flournoy said.
“We never could’ve thought something like this could happen,” she said after Gaither’s death.
Gaither, who loved photography, painting and researching her family’s history, had taken photos of Flournoy and her children by a lake months before her death. She had also organized a tour of artists who shared her passions, her sister said. Gaither often posted her creations on her Instagram account.
“That was her hobby, but it was also who she was,” Flournoy said.
But in an instant, everything changed when a man drove with little regard for others on the interstate, Gaither’s sister said. Rodriguez-Cabrera was also convicted of reckless driving and driving with a suspended license, the DA’s office said.
“She touched a lot of people,” Flournoy said. “She wanted to make a difference in this world. She wanted to have a family, and all of that was taken from her.”
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