“Impossible to imagine the suffering this woman went through”–prosecutor says

A 21-year old man was handed a 12-year prison terms today at the Oconee Coourthouse for failing to stop for a blue light resulting in death.  The victim nearly three years ago near Seneca was a woman who had gone to bed in her home.  A state trooper told the judge he could hear the cries of Vanessa Leanne Neimeyer after the car driven by El Asia Hussain Muhammed bolted from a Wells Highway checkpoint and then, at a speed in excess of 100 miles an hour, went airborne, and crashed through a brick home, landing atop Neimeyer.  At the time, Muhammed license to drive was suspended.  In court today, the defendant repeatedly apologized to the victim’s family.  His lawyer said his client had no previous record, nor was under the influence at the time.  Although, as both lawyer Beasley and the defendant’s psychiatrist, Dr. Maddox both explained, Muhammed was an abuse of cough syrup which he consumed to ward off depression.  The doctor described Muhammed as a schizophrenic and alluded to voices in his head which he claimed to have heard right after the accident.  The prison term approximates about one-half of maximum sentence possible and is timed to start July 2, 2019–the arrest date.  Victim Neimeyer’s mother, Shirley Neimeyer, asked the court for justice, but also mercy.