Nearly two years after a teenager died in a high-speed crash involving alcohol in DeKalb County, her classmate who was driving pleaded guilty and learned she will not spend time in prison.
Hannah Hackemeyer, just 18 at the time of the 2024 single-car wreck, was sentenced Tuesday in the death of Sophia Lekiachvili, a spokesperson with the DeKalb District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. Lekiachvili, 18, and Hackemeyer attended Lakeside High School. The fatal crash — one of several that school year to claim students’ lives — left the school reeling with loss.
A second passenger, Ananya Rao, suffered serious injuries and was able to recover, district attorney Sherry Boston previously said. She also went to Lakeside.
County prosecutors have charged Rao’s parents, Sumanth and Anindita Rao, with involuntary manslaughter, reckless conduct and maintaining a disorderly house, after claiming they permitted a “party house” environment where teens knew they could drink. Their cases remain open and their attorney, Manny Arora, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday he has filed several motions to try to get them dismissed.
During a Tuesday hearing, Hackemeyer, now 20, pleaded guilty to first-degree vehicular homicide, driving under the influence of alcohol, serious injury by vehicle, reckless driving and possession of an open container of alcoholic beverage in a passenger area. She was sentenced to two years on house arrest followed by eight on probation.
“As special conditions of her sentence, defendant Hackemeyer must wear an ankle monitor, cannot operate a motor vehicle, must not consume or possess alcohol and drugs, must submit to random drug and alcohol screenings, must complete 240 hours of community service, and must participate in two MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) Victim Impact Panels,” a statement from district attorney spokesperson Claire Chaffins read.
Superior Court Judge LaTisha Dear Jackson granted Hackemeyer‘s request to be sentenced under the First Offender Act. If she “successfully” completes her sentence, Chaffins said the conviction record would be sealed.
Hackemeyer’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
The legal battle is far from over. In what experts have previously described as an “unusual, but not unprecedented” move, prosecutors are also seeking to hold the Rao parents accountable for what happened on Feb. 24, 2024.
Before the fatal crash, the teenagers had been hanging out at Ananya Rao’s home under the supervision of her parents and openly sharing a bottle of wine, the DA’s office previously said. At a news conference months later to announce the indictments against the parents, Boston described the situation as a regular occurrence. The teens told Sumanth Rao they were going for a drive just before midnight and took a bottle of wine with them, Boston said.
DeKalb police found that open bottle when they responded to the wrecked Mazda CX-5, the district attorney previously said. At the time, authorities said Hackemeyer’s blood-alcohol concentration was .046, more than twice the legal limit for those under the age of 21.
Boston also has said data from the car showed it was traveling 98 mph just one second before the crash on Oak Grove Road. That’s more than 60 mph above the speed limit in that spot.
Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
Hackemeyer and Ananya Rao, who was in the backseat, were able to crawl out of the car, but Lekiachvili was trapped in the front passenger seat, Boston said.
Arora, the Raos’ attorney, told the AJC he has filed several motions to dismiss the parents’ charges. Some of the motions were heard in superior court last week, while Arora hopes the remainder will be heard April 3.
A superior court spokesperson confirmed with the AJC the court took the “motions under advisement” during the recent hearing and noted that no written rulings had been filed as of Wednesday morning.
“We’re hoping for a dismissal, and so we’re just going to press forward,” Arora said.
Arora also filed a motion in September to dismiss the Raos’ indictment because of “extrajudicial statements by prosecution.” In the document, he argued the district attorney made “improper remarks” about the allegations against the couple during her news conference held months after the wreck. He wants the judge to remove the DeKalb district attorney’s office from the prosecution if the case is not dismissed.
In an open letter published by the AJC in December 2024, Akaki and Karolina Lekiachvili, Sophia’s parents, praised the DA’s office for treating their daughter’s death with “gravity and care.”
“Instead of feeling isolated and overwhelmed, we felt relieved and assured. This was no longer a solitary struggle; they were taking ownership,” the Lekiachvilis’ letter read.
The Lekiachvili family could not be reached for comment.
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