‘Party House’ Parents Charged For Alleged Roles In DUI Crash That Killed High Schooler

Two Georgia parents who prosecutors say were known to host underage drinking parties were indicted by a grand jury on Wednesday for their alleged role in a car crash that killed their daughter’s friend earlier this year.

Sumanth Rao, 50, and Anindita Rao, 49, were charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless conduct and maintaining a disorderly household in connection to the death of 18-year-old Sophia Lekiachvili, the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office announced in a press release.

Prosecutors say that on the night of Feb. 23, the Raos allowed their daughter, her friend Lekiachvili, and another friend, 18-year-old Hannah Hackemeyer, to drink at their home before knowingly allowing them to get inside a vehicle, according to the press release.

District Attorney Sherry Boston told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday that the teens were openly drinking a bottle of wine in front of the Raos, and at around 11:45 p.m., they told the father they wanted to go for a drive.

Boston told reporters the parents allowed the teens to leave the house and take the open bottle of wine with them in the front seat. Less than 30 minutes later, DeKalb County Police Department responded to a 911 call about a single-vehicle crash and found Hackemeyer’s blue Mazda CX-5 flipped upside down in the roadway.

Hackemeyer and the Raos’ daughter were able to crawl out of the vehicle, but Lekiachvili was trapped in the front passenger seat, according to the DA’s press release. She later died from her injuries at a nearby hospital.

Data recovered from the car’s airbag control module showed Hackemeyer was going 98 mph at the time of the incident and never tapped on the brakes, according to the press release. Her blood alcohol concentration came back 0.046, which is about twice Georgia’s legal limit for someone under the age of 21.

An attorney representing Hackemeyer did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment. Court records show the teen posted bond at $25,500.

Hackemeyer was indicted on charges including three counts of homicide by vehicle, three counts of serious injury by vehicle, driving under the influence of alcohol under the age of 21, driving under the influence of alcohol less safe, reckless driving, and possession of an open container of alcohol in a passenger area.

Boston called the crash “a foreseeable consequence” of the night’s events in a statement attached to the press release.

At the press conference, the district attorney said the incident was not an anomaly and that the Raos have a repeated pattern of allowing teens to drink in their home.

“Halloween, Homecoming, the last day of school. The Raos’ home was the party house where teens could freely consume alcohol without interference from the adults who lived there,” Boston said.

According to data cited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 32 people in the U.S. die in drunk-driving crashes daily. In 2020, vehicle crashes involving alcohol-impaired drivers accounted for 30% of all traffic-related deaths in the nation.