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Samantha Javors, the former CSU student accused of fatally striking a 16-year-old, pleaded guilty Wednesday to vehicular homicide and leaving the
scene of an accident.
Now 21 and living at home in metro Atlanta, Javors was sentenced by Muscogee County Superior Court Judge Robert Johnston III to 12 years’ probation and
a $5,000 fine. Her weekends for the first two years of probation must be spent in home confinement, meaning she can go only to school and work.
“You never feel good on a sentence like this, when a young person’s lost their lives,” said Assistant District Attorney Michael Craig. “Basically, I
have to accept the judge’s decision. There’s nothing we could do to bring Tyrone back.”
Columbus police said Javors was leaving a bar with two friends around 3:30 a.m. Dec. 2, 2007, as Lamar Tyrone Anderson and two of his friends were
walking from Hollywood Connection along Miller Road near Bridgewater Road. Javors collided with Anderson, and then drove away to a nearby apartment.
Shortly after the Jeep Grand Cherokee Javors was believed to have been driving was towed from the apartment, police learned she and her father were at
the Columbus Public Safety Center.
“If she had stopped, I think there probably would never have been a case,” said defense attorney Frank Martin. “Her problem was not stopping, and she’s
paid a high price for that. It is a great tragedy.”
Johnston said he invoked the rule of sequestration during the guilty plea proceeding, which meant witnesses who were to testify had to leave the
courtroom. The judge added that he only wanted to hear from those who knew the facts, and he didn’t know who had those pieces of information.
The victim’s mother as well as three or four of her main supporters remained in the courtroom for the entire proceeding, Johnston said. When sentencing
occurred, everyone was allowed into the courtroom.
Martin pointed to what he called several extenuating circumstances in the case. Prosecutors couldn’t produce a toxicology report on Anderson, which left
a question about his sobriety, Martin said. Also, Anderson was walking with traffic in dark clothing with one leg in the roadway.
In addition, Martin said when Anderson’s mother was called, she told officers her son was a runaway and that she hadn’t known where he was for two
weeks.
“It was in the police report — that he constantly ran away from home,” Martin added.
Javors’ May 2008 indictment came after both parties reached a civil settlement that Martin called very large. While a judge isn’t forced to be guided by
any such settlement, it doesn’t have to be ignored, he said.
Craig called the plea emotional, with Javors breaking into tears when she apologized to the victim’s mother. However, the prosecutor said he and law
enforcement wanted a harsher sentence.
Anderson’s body, Craig said, was thrown 148 feet when the Jeep Javors was driving struck him. “His head hit right, directly, in the driver’s line of
sight,” he said. “The fact that he’s a runaway does not take away from the fact that he’s a human being.” |
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