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

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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