LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga.,None — A man pleaded guilty Monday to causing a chain-reaction crash that killed three members of a Lawrenceville family and their limousine driver.
Man Admits Killing 4 On I-85
Cody Rhoden, 22, pleaded guilty to four counts of vehicular homicide in the March 2008 accident along Interstate 85 in suburban Gwinnett County. He also was convicted of one count serious injury by vehicle and one count leaving scene. A judge sentenced Rhoden to 40 years in prison followed by 30 years of probation.
Rhoden took the stand during the sentencing phase of the trial and apologized. "Never meant for any of this to happen. I know it may not look like that but if I could go back to that date and trade my life for any of them I would. I would still do it," said Rhoden.
PHOTOS: I-85 Fatal Crash Scene
Authorities say Rhoden was speeding on I-85 when his vehicle struck the limo that was taking the Randle family from the airport to their home. . Witnesses said Rhoden was speeding and weaving in and out of traffic. Investigators said Rhoden then left the scene of the accident.
Killed in the crash were Mark Anthony Gay, 44, of Lawrenceville, who was driving the SUV, Whitney Randle of Lawrenceville and her son, 13-month-old Kayden Alexander Randle-Finley; and the woman's brother, Alexander Randle, 14, of Lawrenceville.
Also injured in the SUV was passenger Demetrius Randle, the father of Whitney and Alexander, and passenger Latavius Finley, 22. Finley is Kayden's father and Whitney's fiance. The mother of Whitney and Alexander, Falleen Randle was also hurt in the crash.
The family was returning form a wedding in Utah when they crashed. Gay, the owner of Destiny Limos, was hired by the Randle family to take them to their Lawrenceville home. Gay was a widower and the father of a 16-year-old son.
"I'm lost. My first born died in my arms. My fiancee died in my arms. My little brother died after responding to me on the highway. My life has not been the same," Latavius Finley testified during sentencing on Monday.
"If I could give my life to get their lives back I would," said Wendy Rhoden, the defendant's mother.
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Rhoden's attorneys had asked a judge to move the trial to another county because of concerns about the pretrial publicity, but they instead accepted the plea deal as jury selection was to begin.
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