Teen says nothing she could have done to prevent crash that killed 3

WOODSTOCK, Ga. — A teenager told Channel 2 Action News no matter how many times she goes over the tragic accident in her mind, there was nothing she could have done to prevent her SUV from hitting three pedestrians last year in Woodstock.

Zoe Reardon's lawyer said when the crash happened, the three people who died were crossing a road in the dark near a concert.

Some of the charges said Reardon failed to give warning by sounding her horn when necessary.

She told Channel 2 Action News she never saw the victims before the accident and said she was watching the road.

“I see my family’s hurt, my parents' hurt. I can only imagine their families’ hurt must be four times what we’re going through,” Zoe Reardon said.

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“I just can’t imagine their pain,” Zoe's father, Dan Reardon, said.

“I have so often wanted to reach out to them and tell them how sad I am,” Zoe's mother, Garnet Reardon, said.

Zoe Reardon told us she is a straight-A student about to graduate, and the road ahead includes a partial scholarship to Southern Methodist University, but her life and the lives of two other families changed forever on a dark road in Cherokee County the night of Sept. 9 when the SUV she was driving struck Kaitlin Hunt, her baby Riley, and Hunt family friend Kathleen Deming. All three died in the crash.

"I pray for the hearts, and I pray for their healing," Zoe Reardon said.

Records indicate Reardon,18, faces eight misdemeanor counts including second-degree homicide by vehicle charges alleging she "failed to exercise due care in operating a motor vehicle on Arnold Mill Road and engaged in the action of putting away her cellular telephone which distracted her."

She said she was not putting her phone away at the time of the accident.

"I never saw anyone coming. I wasn't texting. I wasn't doing anything, just looking at the road. My eyes were on the road," Zoe Reardon said.

Cherokee County Solicitor General Jessica Moss told Channel 2 Action News the families of the victims are "doing as to be expected."

"It's clear from what they've indicated to us that they are seeking justice for their loved ones," Moss said.

Reardon's lawyer, Manny Arora, said she fully cooperated with investigators who had earlier assured her family they saw no basis for charges.

"No crosswalk and these people happen to be crossing, and she happened to be driving, and it's just tragic," Arora said.

"We've done everything that they've asked for. We gave them the phone," Dan Reardon said.

"The sheriff's office did an extensive investigation, and there was discussions both with the district's attorney office and my office before charges were filed," Moss said.

Arora acknowledged, consistent with one of the charges, that Reardon had texted her dad about dinner.

He said she was stopped in traffic elsewhere more than two minutes before the accident.

The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office said a review by the Cherokee Sheriff's Office, District Attorney's Office and Solicitor General's Office of all facts was the case closed and charges filed.

Solicitor General Moss said she never told anyone there would be no charges.

Cox Media Group