ATLANTA — An Atlanta woman is recovering from a long list of injuries suffered when a carjacker ran her over twice.
The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office has now confirmed a suspected gang connection to her attack.
Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne learned the same gang is suspected in similar crimes.
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Surveillance video captured the violent carjacking on Suzanne Hill from July 16 as someone took her SUV and ran her over with it.
“He swung the car into her and knocked her to the ground and ran over her-- and then ran over her again,” her husband Michael Hill told Channel 2. “She’s in recovery mode. Obviously, it was a very traumatic incident.”
Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis says what happened to Hill is an example of what’s driving the most violent crime in Fulton County: gang activity.
“They don’t have any regard for the community at large and this is just a very innocent victim who was harmed,” Willis told Winne.
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Chris Sperry, deputy district attorney for the office’s gang unit, says Hill was closing the gate after she backed up when a young man ran up to steal her SUV. A second suspect was standing nearby with a third suspect who fired a gunshot. No one was hit by the gunfire.
“After the gunshot, the victim fell, the vehicle then drives over her when it’s in reverse. And then the vehicle moves forward again striking her with both the front and the rear tires,” Sperry said.
Hill fractured her skull as well as other areas of her body.
“It’s an awful event. We are so lucky that this lady is alive,” Willis said. “It really is a medical miracle.”
Police arrested Lamrion Weems, a 15-year-old now charged as an adult, after Sperry says Weems led on a brief chase in the SUV and crashed it. Police arrested Courtney Hall, 17, who allegedly tossed the handgun Weems used to fire the gunshot.
Sperry told Winne that gang charges have been brought against both Hall and Weems, while neither is currently charged with other carjacking.
“The gang that’s involved here, they are involved in any other cases?” Winne asked Willis.
“Yes. The same type. Hijacking aggravated assaults. Kind of what their trade is,” she replied.
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Sperry says the crime happened less than 24 hours after he and others from the Fulton DA’s office finished giving investigators across Atlanta Police Department a crash course on how to build gang cases.
The training and the handling of what happened to Hill are both examples of the collaboration occurring between the DA’s office and police on gang cases.
“I want to commend the Atlanta Police Department. They are the ones that contacted us,” Willis said.
A spokesman says two arms of the public defender system represent Hall and Weems. The spokesman says he can’t comment publicly on case specifics partly because of that; however, he added both will receive “zealous, effective and timely representation and their lawyers will work tirelessly toward a resolution.”
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