Case Over for Jaywalking Mom

The case of Raquel Nelson, the Cobb mother who came into the national spotlight after her 4-year-old son was struck and killed as he crossed Austell Road in 2010, is over.

Appearing before Cobb County State Court Judge Kathryn Tanksley this morning, Nelson pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of crossing a roadway outside a crosswalk and paid a $200 fine as part of a deal the Cobb County Solicitor’s office made not to prosecute a vehicular homicide charge, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The deal ended a years-long legal ordeal that began on April 10, 2010. Nelson was crossing a darkened five-lane part of Austell Road with her son, A.J., and her two daughters a third of a mile from the nearest crosswalk.

A.J. pulled away from her and was struck and killed by Jerry Guy. Guy served six months of his five-year sentence in jail and was released on Oct. 29, 2010.

Nelson was convicted of second-degree vehicular homicide, reckless conduct and crossing a roadway outside a crosswalk, all misdemeanors punishable by up to a year in jail each.

Tanksley sentenced Nelson to a year’s probation, then gave her the option to have a retrial. That's when Sadow got involved in the case.

With Sadow as her attorney, Nelson sought a dismissal of the charges based on double jeopardy.

Tanksley dismissed the charge of reckless conduct but upheld the other two charges, meaning Nelson could get two years in jail if convicted again.

Nelson, who contended that her retrial was barred since the evidence was insufficient to sustain her conviction, appealed the judge's ruling to the Court of Appeals of Georgia. When that court last August affirmed the lower court's ruling, Nelson petitioned the Supreme Court of Georgia in September to issue a writ of certiorari to review the appellate court's decision.

In April, the state's high court refused to review the case, a move that would have resulted in a new trial in Cobb State Court if today's deal had not been reached.

Related content

• June 12, 2013: Jaywalking Mom to Appear in Cobb State Court