Accused Easter hit-and-run driver posts bond, leaves jail
Aimee Michael, the accused hit-and-run driver in an Easter Day wreck that killed five people, sprinted out of the Fulton County Jail at 12:25 p.m. Saturday, got into a black SUV and said nothing to clamoring reporters who had been waiting for her release since Friday morning. She clutched a white Bible in her left hand as she left.
Her bond was posted two hours earlier, but Michael's release was delayed a little longer while jail workers processed her paperwork, checked for outstanding warrants and returned her personal items.
Michael wore a black knee-length, hooded coat that partially obscured her face as she briefly embraced an unidentified woman, turned and ran arm-in-arm with that woman toward the waiting Ford Expedition with heavily-tinted windows.
Michael's $150,000 bond was set Thursday. But she was held two days more while her father tried to find a bondsman and then jail officials confirmed the collateral for her bail.
Michael has been in jail since April 23. She was picking up cake and ice cream on April 12, Easter, when her BMW struck another car on Camp Creek Parkway, causing a chain reaction crash that killed five.
Earlier this week, a Fulton grand jury indicted Michael on 15 counts, including five counts of vehicular homicide and five counts of hit and run.
Michael's mother, Sheila Michael, accused of concealing evidence connecting her daughter to the crash, was released from Fulton County jail Thursday night after posting a $50,000 bond.
Sheila Michael, 52, left the jail at 11:30 p.m. with her husband, Robert. The couple drove away in a dark-colored Ford Expedition.
Sheila Michael, a teacher at Cascade Elementary School in Atlanta, was indicted on charges of tampering with evidence — including having the BMW repaired — and hindering apprehension of a criminal.
On Thursday night as Sheila Michael and her husband walked to their vehicle in the jail parking lot they were surrounded by reporters asking them for a comment to the families of the wreck victims.
"God bless," Robert Michael said, and closed the door of the SUV and drove away.
Robert Michael spent Thursday trying to find a bail bondsman to put up the money for both of his loved ones, according to Sheila Michael's lawyer, Renee Rockwell.
Bondsmen generally require at least 10 percent of the amount before covering the bond, and the recipient has to prove he or she has assets to cover the full amount. In this case, the father would have to put up at least $15,000 for his daughter and $5,000 for the his wife.
Robert Michael, a retired Marine, is home on leave from his job as a military contractor for Northrop Grumman in Saudi Arabia.
While the mother will be free to leave her house, both she and her daughter face random drug tests, surprise visits to her home, counseling and possible 24-hour contact with officers, Rockwell said.
In addition to the $150,000 bond, Aimee Michael must agree to be on an ankle monitor and never leave her house, .
