A driver who slammed into another vehicle near Mountain View Elementary School more than two years ago, killing an elderly man, was sentenced to five years in prison this week.
John James Hamm, now 45, also will serve 10 years on probation when he is released, according to filings in Cobb Superior Court.
He pleaded guilty on Monday to one charge vehicular homicide, after three other similar charges were merged into one. The sentence was handed down by Judge Lark Ingram.
According to his indictment, Hamm was driving an Infiniti on Sandy Plains Road near Davis Road on Feb. 23, 2020, when it struck a Mazda truck driven by John Spadafora, 91.
Cobb Police said at the time that Spadafora died after being taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital.
The indictment stated that as Spadafora was heading south on Sandy Plains, attempting to make a left turn onto Davis Road, he was hit by Hamm’s vehicle, heading north, that was weaving and traveling 20 miles over the posted speed limit of 45 mph,
Hamm also did not apply the brakes before the crash, according to the indictment, also states that Hamm was well over the legal alcohol limit. He was taken to Kennestone but had no life-threatening injuries.
Cobb Sheriff’s Office records indicate that Hamm was taken into custody Monday at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center.
Related:
- Ex-business partner of murdered East Cobb man gets 20 years
- Longtime Cobb Judge Mary Staley Clark announces retirement
- East Cobb man sentenced to two life terms for child molestations
- Mt. Bethel Church, UMC ask judge to settle lawsuits
- Cobb DA releases statement on Arbery murder convictions
- Former East Cobb attorney sentenced in litigation fraud scheme
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I didn’t know anyone related to this, but when I was a teen, my parents specifically asked me how I would like to tell a relative of someone I’d killed by reckless driving why I’d killed that person. That terrible feeling has been able to get my foot off the gas peddle almost always when driving the last 40-something years.
Just something for each of us to consider before driving aggressively and if not before, when stepping on the gas.