A Marietta mother accused of vehicular homicide in the death of her 4-year-old son will be retried after a judge denied her request to have all charges dropped against her.
One of the misdemeanor charges against Raquel Nelson – reckless conduct – has been erased. But she still must overcome charges of vehicular homicide and crossing a road outside a crosswalk, which combined, could carry a stiff penalty.
When Nelson, 30, stands before a judge and jury on Oct. 25, the clock will be reset, and she again will face up to three years in jail in the worst case; in the best scenario, an acquittal would free her from the legal aspect of a tragic circumstance she expects to live with the rest of her life.
Cobb County State Court Judge Katherine Tanksley in July offered Nelson a chance to retry the case after a jury convicted the single mother of three. The alternative was a sentence of 12 months probation and 40 hours of community service.
Nelson’s son, A.J. Newman, was killed in April last year when he yanked his hand from his mother’s grasp and ran across the median on Austell Road and into the path of a hit-and-run driver. The boy and his mother and sisters were trying to cross the street after coming home on the bus.
Nelson accepted Tanksley’s offer for a retrial in lieu of a year of probation after a jury convicted her on charges of vehicular homicide, reckless conduct and crossing outside a crosswalk.
Earlier this month, defense attorney Steve Sadow asked the judge to drop all three charges against Nelson, thus eliminating the need for the second trial. Tanksley dismissed the reckless conduct charge and promised to consider the remainder of the request.
On Monday, Tanksley issued an order stating that she wouldn’t dismiss the remaining charges.
“The court having read and considered the defendant’s motion to quash [the charges], and having heard the arguments of counsel for both parties ... hereby denies the motion,” the order read.
Dispatch editor Angel K. Brooks contributed to this article.
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