Ex-GA Trooper Sentenced In Crash That Killed 2 Teens: Reports

CARROLL COUNTY, GA — The former Georgia trooper and Buchanan mayor convicted of driving 90 mph and killing two Paulding County teenagers in a crash has been sentenced to prison, media reports say.

“I mean it when I say I wish it had been me that died that night,” Anthony “AJ” Scott said in a letter during his sentencing held Wednesday at the Carroll County Courthouse, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

He was convicted in connection with a crash that killed 16-year-old Isabella Chinchilla on Sept. 26, 2015 on U.S. Highway 27, Court TV reported.

Two others were injured, and 17-year-old Kylie Lindsey was also killed; however, Scott was reportedly not convicted in Lindsey's death.

Scott drove his state patrol vehicle without sirens or lights at the time of the crash, WAGA-TVreported.

Read by Scott's attorney, the letter was an apology from the disgraced former law-enforcement officer, WXIA-TV reported. Scott opted not to speak at the sentencing.

It came after the first trial against Scott ended in a mistrial in 2019, with the case later reopening in August, when he was convicted of vehicular homicide, reports say.

Carroll County Jail records showed Scott, who was re-elected mayor of Buchanan in November 2023, has been incarcerated since Aug. 27. He was reportedly stripped of his mayoral role following his conviction.

A judge sentenced Scott to 20 years, with 10 years to serve in prison and the balance on probation, the AJC reported.

“It will never be enough, but we are definitely pleased,” mother Kellie Lindsey said in the report. “We feel like justice was definitely served properly today. We do.”

Scott is a former Marine who battled post-traumatic stress disorder, family members told the court, per the AJC.