A Hiram woman will serve 12 years in prison after news of a break-up drove her to run over an ex-boyfriend with a SUV, according to District Attorney David McDade.
Vanessa Marie Garrett-Rogers, 28, received a 30-year sentence from Chief Superior Court Judge Robert J. James after entering a guilty plea Monday to charges of aggravated battery, aggravated assault and leaving the scene of an accident. Once out of prison, Garrett-Rogers will serve the remaining 18 years on probation. She is also required to pay $57,850.46 in restitution to the victim.
Assistant District Attorney Tom Kegley told the court that Garrett-Rogers struck the victim at Pinebrook Mobile Homes on July 2, 2010, hours after he ended a relationship with her.
“While [the victim] is walking up the street, witnesses sitting on the porch of a mobile home see lights from a vehicle come on,” said Kegley, describing the scene to the court. “[The victim] is 20-30 yards away when the vehicle starts coming towards him. He tries to step out of the way, but the vehicle ultimately hits him. The witnesses all state that the victim is drug under the vehicle and onto the roadway, where the defendant backed over him before driving away.”
Witnesses said Garrett-Rogers struck the victim, dragged him under her vehicle, and back over him before fleeing the scene. The victim laid motionless on the ground until authorities arrived and transported him to Grady Hospital. Kegley said the victim suffered a dislocated pelvis and fractured femur, along with injuries to his skull and hands.
The same witnesses who saw the incident unfold that night, viewed an irate Garrett-Rogers earlier in the day. According to them, the defendant threatened to come back with “her people later in the night” when they told her the victim was not home. Instead, she returned with a Toyota 4Runner, which police found inside her father’s garage the next day. The significant damage to the front end of her 4Runner was consistent with evidence of striking a person.
