Women still await appeal hearings

Two women sentenced to life in prison after a 2006 fatal wreck are still waiting to appear before a judge concerning their appeals.

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On June 4, 2006, Lonnie D. Turner, 37, and his mother, Margaret Patricia Branton, 63, were killed and Turner's pregnant wife, Mary, lost her child when Tiara Maria Smith, 23, drove her Ford Explorer through a red light at Washington Road and Bobby Jones Expressway and struck the Chrysler Cirrus that Turner was driving.

Smith and her passenger, Nebula Denise McNeely, 45, both of Augusta, were fleeing the Evans Marshall's store after an attempted shoplifting, according to court records.

Smith was sentenced to life in prison plus 10 years after pleading guilty in September 2007 to two counts of murder, feticide, two counts of serious injury by vehicle and fleeing and attempting to elude police.

A felony shoplifting charge, two counts of cruelty to children and six traffic charges were dropped as part of her negotiated plea agreement.

Chad Medlin, Smith's attorney, filed a motion to reconsider her sentence in October. Medlin said a hearing date has not been set.

A Columbia County jury found McNeely guilty in May of two counts of murder, feticide, two counts of serious injury by vehicle, cruelty to children, fleeing and attempting to elude police and shoplifting.

A judge sentenced her to three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole plus 26 years. She is being held in Arrendale State Prison in North Georgia.

David Weber, McNeely's attorney, filed a motion for a new trial on her behalf in June. Arguments have not been made before a judge.

Branton's husband, John, filed a civil suit against Smith and McNeely two weeks after the wreck but dismissed it in October 2007.

He filed suit against the Columbia County Sheriff's Office in February, contending that a deputy violated office policy by pursuing the two shoplifting suspects. That suit was dismissed in June.