DALTON, Ga. — The family of a Georgia woman killed after a man set her house on fire and then died in a fiery crash during a chase with police says they are devastated over the loss.
Sarah Hunter said her sister, Crystal Scotten, was the woman whose body was found following the fire early Saturday morning at her home along Grimes Street in Dalton.
“She was a fantastic mother, you know? She did the best she could for her two children, and she did the best for her family,” Hunter told WTVC-TV in an interview this week.
Investigators said Ryan Ebler, 30, from Martinsville, Indiana, set fire to the home and took off in Scotten’s car.
Trooper spotted the stolen car along I-75 in Kentucky around 9:30 a.m. on Saturday and tried to pull it over. That’s when the Kentucky State Police said Ebler sped away and led troopers on a chase. The chase ended just south of Lexington when Ebler crashed the car, killing him.
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“He left and fled the scene in my sister’s car and started calling mom, dad, and other family members, basically just saying that she was dead,” Hunter said.
Hunter said her sister, Crystal, was a victim of repeated abuse.
“Other people did know that she was getting abused, and they were more concerned about her feelings than maybe her wellbeing, which is kind of upsetting anytime we’re talking about domestic abuse,” Hunter said
The spokesperson for the City of Dalton, Bruce Frazier, confirmed that there was a history of abuse against Scotten, but it was never reported.
“Our investigators were able to determine that there has been a domestic violence history in this relationship, but it had been, you know, told to friends or family, and it had not been communicated to the police,” Frazier said.
The final autopsy report on the crash that killed Ebler is expected to take 14 to 16 weeks.