Alyssa Prindle

Top East Cobb stories for 2018: Johnson Ferry Road accidents claim two teenagers; 2014 murder conviction

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Johnson Ferry Road accidents
An 18-year-old motorcyclist died in March after crashing into a landscaping truck on Johnson Ferry Road. (ECN file).

Two 18-year-olds from East Cobb were tragically killed in Johnson Ferry Road accidents in 2018.

Alexander Seidnitzer, who worked at Zeal Kitchen & Bar and was planning to attend culinary school, was heading southbound on Johnson Ferry near Bishop Lake Road on the morning of March 26 when he slammed into a landscaping truck that was pulling out of a subdivision.

After being rushed to WellStar Kennestone Hospital, Seidnitzer was pronounced dead. No charges were filed in the accident.

Friends, family and work colleagues held a celebration of life event in his memory at Zeal.

On the July 4 weekend, a recent graduate of Pope High School was traveling in a vehicle further up on Johnson Ferry when she rolled down a window and began yelling and screaming before falling out and hitting the road.

Alyssa Prindle, who was planning to attend Georgia Southern University, never left intensive care at Kennestone and died of her injuries on July 25.

The driver of the SUV, 17-year-old Abigail Cook, also of East Cobb, was arrested and charged with vehicular homicide, DUI and other charges. In November, she was indicted by a Cobb grand jury.

Other major public safety stories for 2018 in East Cobb include the August conviction of a man for the murder of Jerry Moore, who was found stabbed to death in his home off Holly Springs Road in January 2014.

Johnathan Allen Wheeler worked at a Woodstock bakery that Moore financed and that was run by Ross Byrne, who was Moore’s roommate. Byrne was charged with homicide two weeks after Wheeler was sentenced to two consecutive life terms.

Former Pope volunteer wrestling coach Ron Gorman received long sentences for sexually abusing young athletes, both in East Cobb and in Pennsylvania, where he coached previously.

A former Kell High School teacher of the year is facing charges of sexually assaulting a student from 2016 and 2018.

Robert New, a former officer at Cobb Police Precinct 4 in East Cobb, was arrested for aggravated assault of a woman, solicitation of a minor girl, possession of computer pornography and other charges. He resigned shortly after that in June.

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East Cobb teen indicted for death of girl who fell from moving car

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East Cobb teen indicted
Alyssa Prindle never left ICU after falling out of a moving car on Johnson Ferry Road July 5.

An East Cobb teen charged with the death of another teen who fell out of a moving car over the July 4 holiday has been indicted by a Cobb grand jury.

Abigail Cook, 17, is facing charges of vehicular homicide, having a false identification and underage possession of alcohol.

The indictments were handed Nov. 1, according to online documents filed with the Cobb District Attorney’s Office.

Cook, whose home address is listed as Wood Thrush Way, was charged shortly after Alyssa Prindle, 18, a recent graduate of Pope High School, was seriously injured in the incident and taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital.

Cobb Police said Prindle was a backseat passenger in an SUV driven by Cook that was heading north on Johnson Ferry Road near Sewell Mill Road around 2 a.m. on July 5.

According to police, Prindle rolled down a window of a silver 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe and began hanging out of the vehicle while it was in motion, yelling and screaming before she fell out.

Prindle, who was to have been a freshman at Georgia Southern University this fall, was in intensive care at Kennestone until she died on July 27.

The charges against Cook, who bonded out of jail shortly after her arrest, were upgraded to include vehicular homicide. She was indicted by the grand jury for violating her class D drivers license hour restrictions.

 

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East Cobb teenage girl who fell out of moving car has died; driver charged with vehicular homicide

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Alyssa Prindle, East Cobb teenage girl
Alyssa Prindle had recently graduated from Pope High School.

An East Cobb teenage girl who fell out of a moving car on Johnson Ferry Road earlier this month has died, and an arrest warrant has been issued for the driver.

Cobb Police Officer Sarah O’Hara said in a release this morning that Alyssa Prindle, 18, who suffered serious injuries in the incident, died Wednesday at WellStar Kennestone Hospital.

O’Hara said that the Cobb County Magistrate has issued an arrest warrant for Abigail Cook, 17, also of East Cobb, for 1st degree vehicular homicide.

According to police, Cook was driving a silver 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe northbound on Johnson Ferry Road near Sewell Mill Road around 2 a.m. on July 5 when Prindle, a backseat passenger, rolled down a window and began hanging out of the vehicle.

Police said Prindle was yelling and screaming and then fell out of the Hyundai. She was taken to Kennestone and placed in ICU, and O’Hara said this morning that she never left the hospital before dying of her injuries.

Cook was booked in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center and charged with DUI, reckless driving, serious injury by vehicle (a felony), underage possession of alcohol, possession of false identification and a violation of class D drivers license hour restrictions. She later bonded out of jail, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records.

A GoFundMe page had been set up by Prindle’s family to pay for medical expenses, but a message posted there Thursday announced that Prindle, a Pope High School graduate, “lost her fight. Her body just couldn’t keep going. There were too many injuries, and the doctors just couldn’t do anything else for her.”

The message continued:

“Please pray for our family as we go through a difficult next few days together.

“Her parents are Todd and Julie, and her 15-yr old brothers are Kyler and Bailey. We would love for you to be praying for them by name, as well as her extended family.”

 

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