A man who seriously injured another motorist in a 2019 crash in Cobb County was sentenced to two years in prison.
Howard Wright, 46, was driving 86 mph when he slammed into the victim’s vehicle on South Cobb Drive in Smyrna, according to authorities. That was nearly twice the 45-mph speed limit on the busy road.
A jury convicted Wright of serious injury by vehicle April 20, court records show. A day later, Superior Court Judge Kimberly Childs ordered him to serve two years in prison followed by 13 years of probation.
Cobb County District Attorney Flynn Broady Jr. announced the verdict and sentencing in a news release Tuesday.
According to the release, the crash happened March 20, 2019, at the intersection of South Cobb Drive and Cooper Lake Road. Wright was driving northbound when he T-boned John Nelson’s vehicle as the victim was making a left turn, the indictment states.
According to an arrest warrant, Wright was trying to accelerate past a box truck in his Dodge Challenger and never saw Nelson’s Volkswagen Passat.
Nelson was rushed to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital with a serious head injury. Court documents indicate doctors had to place 40 staples in his head, and the crash left his head “severely disfigured.”
Nelson gave an impact statement during Wright’s sentencing, telling the judge the crash continues to have lingering effects on his life. It caused him “to not remember things and function normal daily activities such as driving and sitting in a vehicle,” according to the arrest warrant.
“It seems like since my head injury I can only feel irritability, anger and dullness,” Nelson said.
Wright remained in custody Tuesday at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center.
“We are hopeful that our victim’s wish for Mr. Wright to never be able to inflict such pain on anyone else comes true with (the) sentencing,” said Senior Assistant District Attorney Marty First, who led the prosecution during last week’s trial.
