Left: Anindita Rao (DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office). Sophia Lekiachvili (family photo).
A teenager and two parents are facing felonies for their alleged roles in a crash that killed another 18-year-old woman in Georgia.
The driver of the vehicle involved in the crash, 18-year-old Hannah Hackemeyer, is charged with three counts of homicide by vehicle and driving under the influence, among other crimes, DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston said in a press release. Her friend’s parents, Sumanth Rao, 50, and Anindita Rao, 49, are facing involuntary manslaughter charges for allegedly allowing the teens to drink before the fateful crash that killed Sophia Lekiachvili.
Prosecutors say Hackemeyer, Lekiachvili, and the Rao’s daughter were drinking at the Rao household the night of Feb. 23 and into Feb. 24. The underage teens were drinking with the blessing of Sumanth Rao and Anindita Rao. Boston told reporters Wednesday at a press conference the Rao home was known as the “party house” where underage drinking was the norm.
“Halloween, Homecoming, the last day of school,” Boston said. “It is a miracle that nothing happened prior to Feb. 24. Mr. and Mrs. Rao’s choices that night led to the death of a teenage girl.”
According to prosecutors, the teens had just polished off a bottle of wine when they decided to go for a drive shortly before midnight. With Hackemeyer driving, Lekiachvili sat in the front passenger seat while the Rao girl rode in the back seat. They had an open bottle of wine in the car. Hackemeyer allegedly was driving the Mazda CX-5 nearly 100 mph — more than 60 mph over the speed limit — when she lost control and crashed, causing the car to roll over.
Hackemeyer and the Rao girl crawled out of the car. First responders rushed to the scene where they found Lekiachvili trapped in the passenger seat. They extricated her and rushed the teen to the hospital where she died from her injuries.
An investigation unveiled that Hackemeyer allegedly had a Blood Alcohol Concentration of 0.046, which is more than twice the legal limit for someone under the age of 21.
“This crash was a foreseeable consequence of allowing underage drinking in their home and worse — allowing someone who they knew had consumed alcohol — to drive,” Boston said in a statement. “We recognize that prosecuting these cases will not bring Sophia back, but we hope that by pursing justice in her death, we may prevent future tragedies.”
