ATLANTA — The family of Tamara Taylor was ready for the trial of a driver who is accused of killing the mother of three during a police chase. Right before jury selection, the defendant, Ryan Hicks asked for and was granted a delay, which upset Taylor’s family.
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Tamara’s brother, Charles Atkins Jr. was stunned.
“It’s senseless to me,” Atkins told Channel 2′s Tom Jones. “We were so ready for this trial to start.”
He and his family have waited nearly a year to get justice in the case where Hicks is accused of causing a violent crash that killed his sister last April. He says the incident happened on Taylor’s mother’s birthday.
“It’s devastated my family,” Atkins explained.
Jones was in court Monday when jury selection was about to start.
That’s when Hicks’ public defender told the judge she wanted to make a motion.
“I know this is very last minute,” Elizabeth Hoague said.
She then asked the judge to delay the trial until Hicks gets his federal tax return to hire a private attorney.
The judge wasn’t happy.
“Nobody is entitled to basically just put their trial off and say well I want to hire an attorney,” Fulton Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker said in court.
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Georgia State Patrol says it chased Hicks that day because he was wanted for a broken taillight. Officers had tried to stop him a few days before the incident and he drove off, they say.
Troopers say Hicks drove recklessly at dangerous speeds on Interstate 285 near Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, then got off on the Campbellton road exit. They say he ignored the traffic signal at Campbellton and Barge and slammed into Taylor.
The collision left Taylor’s car unrecognizable.
“Going to get food,” Atkins said, telling Jones the mother of three was getting dinner when she was killed.
Atkins says police should never chase Hicks.
“I wanted those chases definitely to stop,” Atkins said.
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Back in court, the judge decided to grant Hicks one delay after checking with his new attorney. She pointed out the cases had been continued twice before.
“We’re not gonna just keep putting this case off. You understand that?” she told Hicks.
Taylor’s brother wishes Hicks would take a plea deal and go away.
“Prolonging it just goes...makes this family suffer even more,” Atkins said.
Hicks faces 22 charges, including felony murder, first-degree vehicular homicide, fleeing and attempting to elude, aggressive driving and reckless driving.
He faces life in prison.
The judge set a new trial date for April 14.
Georgia State Patrol said it was preparing to slow down and stop the pursuit because Atkins was driving so dangerously.
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