A Georgia woman was found guilty of Vehicular Homicide Friday evening in the 2022 death of a motorcyclist during Thunder Beach 2022, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
Tammi Michelle Hornsby, 50, of Senoia, Ga., was found guilty in the death of David Wayne Wooten, 47, of Douglasville, Ga. The jury deliberated for about 3 hours after two days of testimony. Circuit Court Judge Shonna Young Gay set sentencing for Nov. 4. Vehicular Homicide is a Second-Degree Felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Chief Assistant State Attorney Mark Graham and Prosecutor Jack Lyons called 5 witnesses and presented evidence – including video of the collision. They proved Wooten died April 30, 2022, when Hornsby’s speeding Jeep struck his motorcycle as he tried to cross Thomas Drive to turn left from Silver Sands Road.
The vehicles erupted in a ball of fire, creating a chaotic scene as witnesses from nearby businesses rushed to offer aid. The evidence showed Hornsby, westbound on Thomas Drive, was driving about 30 mph over the speed limit, crossing lanes, had been drinking, and did not take any evasive action until .8 seconds before impact.
“Let’s get one thing straight right here,” Graham told jurors in his closing argument. “But for her speeding, Mr. Wooten would still be alive today and we wouldn’t be here. We have her speeding, we have her impaired, we have her driving 64 mph during bike week in a 35 mph zone. We have her crossing not just one, but one, two, three street walks with signs.”
“He could’ve safely crossed if she was going 35 mph, but she wasn’t, she was going almost double that, and that’s the problem.”
Wooten was southbound at Thomas Drive on his motorcycle waiting to turn left. Surveillance video from nearby businesses showed the victim waiting as one car passed at what appeared to be a normal speed. As Wooten crossed the intersection, the defendant’s car appears from the east at a high rate of speed, hitting the victim as he was almost across the intersection.
He suffered severe head injuries and was pronounced dead at the hospital.
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Trooper Cory Guster testified that the defendant smelled of alcohol, showed clear signs of being under the influence, refused to take a field sobriety test, and refused to take a breathalyzer.
“Put together all her actions, how she was driving, the circumstances,” Graham said. “She knew she’d been drinking, she knew she was speeding. She flat-out told (the trooper) no when asked to take the test. Her normal faculties were impaired.”
Trooper Samuel Ellis’ Traffic Homicide Investigation and data retrieved from the defendant’s Event Data Recorder in her jeep showed she was going 64 mph 5 seconds before the impact and didn’t apply the brakes until .8 seconds before impact.
It all added up to one thing, Graham said: But for the defendant’s high rate of speed and impaired ability to react, the wreck never would have occurred.
Basford thanked the Florida Highway Patrol for its work on the case and the eyewitnesses who came forward for testifying.
For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.