ATLANTA — A driver found guilty in a 2016 crash that killed an Atlanta grandmother and her two grandchildren learned his fate on Monday.
Judge Kimberly Adams sentenced Diontre Tigner to life with the possibility of parole plus six years.
The family wanted the person responsible to get life without parole, but that did not happen.
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Tigner, now 24, was 16 years old when he carjacked someone and led police on a high-speed chase through several residential neighborhoods going up to 90 miles per hour.
He crashed into Dorothy Wright’s car on South Gordon Street and Rogers Avenue in College Park as she headed to church with her two grandchildren, 12-year-old Cameron and 6-year-old Layla.
All three family members died.
On Monday, Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes said the sentence left the family unsatisfied.
“Justice wasn’t served and we’re walking away from this the same way we walked away from it 8 years ago when the accident happened,” said Douglas Partridge, the father of Cameron and Layla and son-in-law to Wright.
Last week, Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes spoke exclusively to the family after a jury found Tigner guilty on all 15 counts.
They were relieved that they were finally getting justice.
“It was a sigh of relief. I was like thank you, thank you. I was happy,” said Joi Partridge, the mother of Cameron and Layla, and Dorothy Wright’s daughter. “You would think after that traumatic experience you wouldn’t do that again, but he was still out there doing the same things. So we’re just glad he was caught and hopefully, he won’t hurt another family in this capacity,” said Partridge, last week.
After the sentencing on Monday, Partridge told Channel 2 Action News it felt like a slap in the face.
“It’s like we’re being victimized again and everybody is looking for an excuse for this young man. Meanwhile, we have kids we left at the cemetery and no one cares. They didn’t ask for that, we didn’t ask for it,” he said.
The judge said she had to consider that Tigner was 16 when he committed the crimes.
She also explained that she didn’t let the jury hear about Tigner’s other police chase during the trial because it would have been too prejudicial.
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The state offered Tigner a plea deal to serve 45 years. He took it to trial and he now has the possibility to serve less time.
Channel 2 Action News has been working to answer how many years Tigner will have to serve.
He is up for parole and the family will be present to tell the parole board why he should stay in prison.
Joi Partridge misses her mom and children dearly. She decided to turn her pain into joy for others by starting a non-profit called The Dorothy S. Wright Foundation to help families who lose their children but don’t have insurance.
They’ve already helped four families, but they want to help more. If you can help them on this journey, click here.
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