Background: The Douglas County Superior Court in Douglasville, Ga. (Google Maps). Inset: Kristopher Graf (Douglas County Sheriff’s Office).
A Georgia man who jumped out of a moving vehicle in the middle of a highway, causing a fatal car crash, was found guilty of manslaughter.
The Douglas County District Attorney’s Office announced in a press release that Kristopher Graf, 45, was convicted by a jury of involuntary manslaughter on April 24. According to the DA, Graf was a passenger in a car being driven by his wife, Stacy Edwards, both of whom were intoxicated beyond the legal limit while they were traveling home from a party on the night of Jan. 14, 2022. The DA said that as the car was going around 80 mph on a stretch of the westbound I-80, Graf “flung himself from the moving vehicle,” which set in motion a multi-vehicle crash that killed two people and seriously injured several others.
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According to the DA, after Graf propelled himself onto the highway, he landed in the middle of the road and sustained “numerous injuries.” While on the road, the driver of a semitruck swerved to avoid hitting him and, as a result, struck a van carrying five people. The impact caused two of the van’s passengers to be “ejected” into the roadway.
The driver of the van was injured in the impact and ended up having his leg amputated.
One of the ejected passengers died of injuries at the scene. Another passenger who sustained injuries but remained in the van was also pronounced dead. An additional passenger inside the van was “severely injured.”
When authorities arrived at the scene and spoke to Edwards, she reportedly told them that Graf had started drinking before the event they had both attended that evening. Police at the scene suspected that Edwards was also drunk and took her into custody on suspected DUI charges. Edwards was confirmed to have a blood-alcohol content of .137, well above the .08 limit.
District Attorney Dalia Racine said in a statement, “The absurd recklessness demonstrated by these defendants resulted in a chain reaction that took and altered numerous lives that day. While this verdict will not bring back the lives lost or heal the life altering injuries caused, we hope that the jury’s finding will help on their journey to find peace and healing.”
Edwards previously pleaded guilty to DUI charges and was sentenced to 12 months of probation. She agreed to testify against her husband as part of her plea deal.
Graf was taken to a hospital before he was arrested. He was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter and six counts of reckless conduct.
Following the verdict, the judge sentenced Graf to 20 years in prison, followed by four years of probation.
