Fired Ga. Trooper 'Devastated' by Fatal Crash

Oct. 6, 2015
Trooper Anthony Scott was terminated for speeding after being involved in a wreck that killed two teenagers on Sept. 26.

The lawyer for a former Georgia State Police trooper who was fired after being involved in a wreck that killed two teenagers says that his client is devastated.

Authorities say Anthony Scott was driving 90 mph in a 55 mph zone on Georgia Highway 1 in Carroll County on Sept. 26 before his cruiser struck a small Nissan that Isabella Chinchilla, 16, and Kylie Lindsey, 17, were traveling in, according to WSB-TV.

The two girls died in the crash, which also sent two teenage boys to the hospital.

"He's sorry. He's a father. He never wants to see anyone lose their life. He doesn’t wake up, put on vest and go to work every day to see someone die in a horrible accident," Defense Attorney Mac Pilgrim told the news station. "He's had past military combat operations in the Marine Corps and he's much worse, his psyche; he's having a difficult time with this."

District Attorney Peter Skandalakis said it’s a case where many factors are involved and in which both drivers' actions possibly contributed to the outcome.

"Both of them may have or have not been at fault," he said. "Speed may have been a contributing factor, failure to yield (as well). There is not just one, but a number of factors to look at."

While state police officials cited speed as the reason for terminating Scott, Pilgrim believes that surveillance video from a neighboring convenience store will show the trooper did all he could to avoid the crash.

"The 90-mile-an-hour number that’s been thrown around out there was long before the accident. He responded accordingly," he said. "He was not distracted."

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