Exactly 10 years ago, the funerals for two Paulding County teenagers killed in a horrific crash were held hours apart in the same church.
On Wednesday, the former Georgia State Patrol trooper who hit 90 mph before causing that 2015 wreck returned to the Carroll County courthouse where he was recently convicted and received a 20-year sentence.
Anthony “AJ” Scott must spend 10 of those years behind bars and the other half of the sentence on probation, Judge Erica Tisinger ruled. Tisinger apologized to the families for scheduling the sentencing on the anniversary of the funerals.
Scott was found guilty of two counts of serious injury by vehicle, one count of vehicular homicide, speeding and reckless driving Aug. 27. The verdict came after 13 hours of jury deliberations and more than six years after his first trial ended in a mistrial.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Scott showed little emotion Wednesday morning when he was sentenced, and he didn’t speak during the hearing. But his attorney, Mac Pilgrim, read a letter from his client to the court.
“I mean it when I say I wish it had been me that died that night,” the letter said.
A crash survivor and the victims’ mothers gave emotional pleas through tears, asking for the maximum punishment of 30 years in prison for a man they said never showed remorse.
“I got victim-blamed for 10 years,” said Dillon Wall, who was driving the vehicle struck by Scott’s patrol car. Wall directed his comments in court at Scott’s defense attorney: “All (Scott) had to do was say sorry. All he had to do was say sorry.”
Pilgrim said Scott had been advised over the years to avoid contact with the victims’ families or survivors. The defense attorney had asked for Scott to serve 36 months in prison.
Tisinger instead said she was following the recommendations of the Georgia Department of Community Supervision and had reviewed similar cases.
Scott’s mother and grandmother were among those begging for leniency for a man they said has dedicated his life to service, despite making a horrible mistake the night of the crash. Scott previously served in the U.S. Marines and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, according to his family.
“He is a fine young man. A fine young man,” Robin Scott said of her son. “Has he done wrong in his life? Who hasn’t? I know I have. Everyone makes mistakes. That’s why it’s called an accident.”
Since the wreck, AJ Scott was fired as a trooper, became a city councilman in Buchanan and was then elected and reelected as the small town’s mayor, a position he was ousted from after his conviction. Buchanan, the town seat of Haralson County, is about 55 miles west of Atlanta at the Georgia-Alabama line and has about 1,000 residents.
After the guilty verdict, Scott was booked into the Carroll jail, where he has been held awaiting sentencing. On Wednesday, he was dressed in bright green jail attire and his feet were shackled.
Outside the courthouse, the girls’ mothers expressed relief and the feeling of closure knowing Scott will stay behind bars. Wall stood beside them.
“It will never be enough. But we are definitely pleased,” Kellie Lindsey said. “We feel like justice was definitely served properly today. We do.”
Leslie Woods said she may soon be able to walk into her daughter’s bedroom, which has remained untouched.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Woods lost her 16-year-old daughter, Isabella Chinchilla, in the crash. Lindsey’s daughter, 17-year-old Kylie Lindsey, also died. Both teens, students at South Paulding High School, were in the back seat of a Nissan Sentra, investigators determined after the crash.
Two others — Wall, then 18, and Benjamin Alan Finken, then 17 — were critically injured. Wall was the only teen wearing a seat belt. Although alcohol bottles were found in the Nissan, Wall did not have alcohol in his system, according to testimony.
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, leading Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr to appoint the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office to take over the prosecution.
The crash survivors and Scott all testified during the retrial.
Scott’s defense team argued the teens had been drinking and Wall did not use a signal when turning in front of the patrol car. Pilgrim told the jury in closing arguments the crash was an accident.
The jury instead agreed with prosecutors, who said it was Scott’s disregard for the posted speed limit of 55 mph that caused the crash.
STORY TIMELINE
Sept. 26, 2015: Trooper Anthony “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. 1, 2015: The funerals for Kylie and Isabella are held hours apart at West Ridge Church in Dallas.
Oct. 7, 2015: Georgia State Patrol fires Scott after investigators determine 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 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.
Aug. 27: A jury convicts Scott on five of six charges: two counts of serious injury by vehicle, one count of vehicular homicide, speeding and reckless driving. He is booked into the Carroll County jail.
Wednesday: Scott is sentenced to serve 10 years in prison.
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