Neither the siren nor the blue lights were on as a Georgia State trooper hit 90 mph on a rainy Saturday night in Carroll County.
Anthony “AJ” Scott was in uniform, but he wasn’t on his way to a call, according to investigators. He slowed down some. But Scott was still driving 66 mph as he collided with a small sedan carrying four teenagers in September 2015. Two of those teens died.
Scott was northbound on U.S. 27 when he struck a 2005 Nissan Sentra attempting a left turn onto Holly Springs Road, investigators said after the crash. Days later, Scott was fired from the state patrol.
Scott’s 2019 trial ended in a mistrial. Nearly 10 years after the crash and now a small-town mayor, he faced a jury once again.
This time, he was found guilty on five of six charges, including two counts of serious injury by vehicle, one count of vehicular homicide, speeding and reckless driving. Scott was convicted after a jury deliberated for more than 13 hours.
Outside the courthouse, the mothers of the two girls killed hugged each other, forever united by tragedy.
“Finally,” Leslie Woods said.
“Yes, finally,” Kellie Lindsey said. “Finally someone saw what we’ve been seeing for almost 10 years.”
Woods lost her 16-year-old daughter, Isabella Chinchilla, in the crash. Lindsey’s daughter, 17-year-old Kylie Lindsey, also died.
The families said the verdict helps offer closure to the pain they feel.
“I think that it’s really lifted, but now I’ll grieve the death of her,” Woods said. “Everything sits in her room as if she’s still there.”
Sentencing hasn’t yet been scheduled. Scott could receive a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. He was taken from the courtroom to the Carroll jail.
The 2019 mistrial in the case against Scott led to back-and-forth legal challenges. Carroll County Superior Court Judge John Simpson declared the mistrial because he believed prosecutors withheld evidence in the case, including a theory about where one of the girls had been sitting in the car. Prosecutors argued they didn’t believe the new theory was relevant to the case and said they had turned over all evidence.
Simpson and the former Carroll district attorney both recused themselves from the case, leading Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr to appoint the DeKalb County district attorney’s office to take over the prosecution.
In the fall of 2019, Scott ran for mayor in the small town of Buchanan, winning the seat in the same year of his mistrial. He was reelected in 2023. Buchanan, the town seat of Haralson County, is located about 55 miles west of Atlanta at the Georgia-Alabama line and has about 1,000 residents.
On Aug. 18, the second trial began, with a different jury, judge and prosecutors but in the same Carroll courtroom. Closing arguments were held Tuesday morning, and the jury began deliberations at 2 p.m. and continued until 10 p.m.
At 5 p.m. Wednesday, the jury announced it had reached a verdict.
The night of the crash, the backseat passengers, Kylie and Isabella, died from their injuries. Both were students at South Paulding High School.
Credit: City of Buchanan
Credit: City of Buchanan
Two others — Dillon Lewis Wall, then 18, and Benjamin Alan Finken, then 17 — were critically injured. Wall, the driver, was the only teen wearing a seat belt. Though alcohol bottles were found in the Nissan, Wall did not have alcohol in his system, according to testimony.
The crash survivors and Scott all testified during the trial.
Scott’s defense team argued that the teens had been drinking and Wall did not use a turn signal when turning in front of the patrol car. Attorney Mac Pilgrim told the jury in closing arguments the crash was an accident.
“Dillon was a victim, and he was portrayed as the instigator, the blame, from day one, and now we’ve got the truth,” Deborah Wall, Dillon’s mother, said outside the courthouse.
Pilgrim said Scott served in the U.S. Marines before joining the Georgia State Patrol. Scott joined GSP on July 1, 2012, according to the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council.
“He has dedicated his life to service,” Pilgrim said.
But prosecutors said it was Scott’s disregard for the posted speed limit of 55 mph that caused the crash.
“This is not a DUI case,” Heather Waters, a DeKalb County prosecutor, told the jurors. “There is actually no evidence that Dillon had been drinking.”
Pilgrim said he doesn’t have immediate plans to appeal the ruling.
“There are no winners; there’s only losers. You’ve got two young girls that died — let’s don’t forget that,’ Pilgrim said. “My client, I still don’t believe is responsible for that, but still two young girls lost their lives, and that’s a hole their families won’t ever feel and a pain that no parent should ever have to feel.”
STORY TIMELINE
Sept. 26, 2015: Trooper AJ Scott collides with a Nissan Sentra on U.S. 27 in Carroll County. Two teenagers, Kylie Hope Lindsey, 17, and Isabella Alise Chinchilla, 16, were killed. Both were students at South Paulding High School.
Oct. 7, 2015: Georgia State Patrol fires Scott after investigators determined he was driving 91 mph five seconds before the fatal crash.
Feb. 17, 2016: Grand jury fails to indict Scott.
November 2016: The case is re-presented to a different grand jury, which indicts Scott on misdemeanor charges of speeding and reckless driving. However, a judge later throws out the indictment.
Aug. 31, 2017: Scott is indicted on two counts of vehicular homicide in the second degree, two counts of serious injury by vehicle, violating oath of office, and one count each of speeding and reckless driving.
May 13, 2019: Scott’s first trial begins.
May 24, 2019: A mistrial is declared.
Aug. 18, 2025: Scott’s second trial begins.
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