Three Ways to Continue Your Support for Raquel Nelson

Author: Loretta Williams, aunt of Raquel Nelson

To the wonderful supporters of Raquel Nelson

On April 10, 2010, after celebrating a birthday, Raquel Nelson and her three children missed a bus. They arrived home after dark. What happened next has now become national news, and may be familiar to many of you.

On that night, Raquel took all reasonable safety precautions and attempted to cross the roadway to her home, which was in the apartment complex across from the bus stop where Raquel, her children, and other bus riders were let off. The nearest marked crosswalk was nearly 0.3 miles away.

After entering the roadway and crossing halfway, Raquel, her family and the other bus riders stopped in the small median to again check for oncoming traffic. But Raquel’s 4-year old son, little AJ, darted into the street following another bus rider crossing with them at the time. Doing what any mother would do, Raquel ran after him and they were hit by a van. Her son AJ was killed, Raquel and one of her daughters were also hit and injured; the driver never stopped.

After being turned in, the driver, Jerry Guy, was allowed by the Cobb County Solicitor General’s Office to plead  guilty to only one charge (hit-and-run). He was sentenced to serve only 6 months in jail and given 5 years probation, even though Guy had been drinking, taking pain medication, and is blind in one eye.

On the other hand, Raquel was charged by the Cobb County Solicitor General’s Office with vehicular homicide in the second degree, reckless conduct, and jaywalking for simply trying to safely cross the roadway to get her children home. A jury that had no prior experience with public transportation or bus stops on busy roadways far from marked crosswalks found Raquel guilty.

Along with other family members, I took it upon myself to make the public aware of this injustice, and as a result of public outcry and support of wonderful people like you, she was given a second chance by the judge at her sentencing and granted a new trial. Now, we all have another opportunity to help her. Here are three things you can do:

1) Help Get the Charges Against Raquel Dismissed

Now that Raquel has a chance to clear her name, she has decided to opt for the new trail.

We the family ask for your continued support in asking the Cobb County Solicitor General Barry E. Morgan not to pursue a retrial against Raquel, and to dismiss the case before a second trial is necessary. We ask that supporters call and write letters to Solicitor General Morgan saying that the public would like to request that the case against Raquel be dropped as she has suffered enough. You can find the contact information here.

2) Help Defray Raquel’s Legal Costs

Attorney Steve Sadow has graciously offered his services Pro Bono to defend Raquel. We are grateful for his generosity. Although Attorney Sadow will not be asking for any legal fee, there will be other costs and expenses that Raquel will encounter, such as investigative fees, court transcripts, etc.

To help Raquel with these costs, we have started The Raquel Nelson Defense Fund at Chase Bank. Supporters can donate to the fund at any Chase Bank in the United States.

3) Keep Signing and Sharing this Petition

Raquel feels it is important to clear her name and become a pedestrian advocate for people who have to use public transportation and citizens who use public streets in the course of everyday living. We will be delivering this petition, which more than 150,000 people have already signed, to the Cobb County Transportation Department to push for safety improvements to make our streets walkable and safe.

This has been a hard time for our family, but your support has made us feel uplifted, words cannot express how grateful we are to have this outpouring of public support. Thank you again.