A 30-year-old Fulton County woman has been charged with felony vehicular homicide and other offenses -- including trafficking in pornographic videos -- after causing a crash that killed a taxi driver in College Park, police said Thursday.
Laronda C. Robinson was arrested at her home Wednesday on Enon Pines Drive just outside southwest Atlanta. Wearing a neck brace, Robinson made a court appearance Thursday and was denied bond, Channel 2 Action News reported.
Robinson was wanted in connection with the wreck around 10 p.m. Monday that killed 30-year-old Karl Green of Morrow, according to 1st Sgt. Cameron Burke, traffic division supervisor for the College Park Police Department.
The arrest resulted from an investigation in which police interviewed numerous witnesses and reviewed video of the events leading to the crash, Burke said.
The Monday night incident started at an Exxon gas station on Old National Highway. Robinson and Green knew each other from a previous encounter in which she was a passenger in Green's cab.
"Depending on the sources we talked to, she either left a cell phone in his taxi and went back to get it and it wasn't there -- there's an allegation he had sold the phone to someone else -- while another person said they had an argument over bootleg DVDs she was trying to sell," Burke said.
"In any case, the argument led to further escalation," Burke said. "She apparently threatened him with bodily harm."
Green got into his Ford sedan taxi and drove off. Robinson followed him in her Mercedes sport-utility vehicle.
She allegedly pursued him onto I-85 at speeds of up to 70 mph, driving around and in front of him and deliberately causing him to run into her vehicle.
Fearing for his safety, Green continued to flee and ultimately ran off the exit ramp from I-85 to Riverdale Road and struck a tree. Police found Green trapped in his crushed cab. The man was pronounced dead a short time later. There were no other persons in the taxi.
"We're saying she did cause the crash by her actions," Burke said. "Had she not been chasing him and aggressively driving and trying to catch up to him ... he would not have crashed the car."
After a standoff Wednesday in which Robinson refused to come out of her home, she was taken into custody by College Park police assisted by Fulton County police officers, Burke said.
The woman was charged with first degree homicide by vehicle, reckless driving, aggressive driving, reproduction of recorded material and distribution of obscene material.
"She was in possession of numerous bootleg or pirated DVDs, and several of those were pornographic videos," Burke said. "We have witness statements that she was actively distributing these in the area."
Robinson, who also goes by the names "Laronna Sharlene" and "Sugarmomma," was booked into Clayton County jail early Thursday morning, jail records show.
If convicted of felony homicide by vehicle, Robinson could be sentenced to 3 to 15 years in prison, Burke said. The recorded material charge also is a felony, punishable by as much as two years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000. The other offenses are misdemeanors punishable by fines and up to 12 months in jail.
Green's girlfriend Antoinette Jones, the mother of their two children, told Channel 2 she was thankful for police for having solved the case. She said the man's death hurts, especially for their 10-year-old daughter.
"My daughter told me ... 'You know, my Dad, he's not coming back, and I want him to come back, and if he don't, it's gonna break my heart.'"
Green had worked for Day & Night Cab Co. for six months, Channel 2 reported.
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