DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The 28-year-old man accused of hitting two little girls playing in the front yard of a home in Lithonia was denied bond in DeKalb County Court on Wednesday.
Gabriel Jabri Fordham turned himself in Tuesday and is charged with failure to maintain a lane, failure to stop at a stop sign, reckless driving, hit-and-run and serious injury by vehicle.
Fordham is represented by attorneys Ryan Williams and Gerald A. Griggs. Griggs is also representing the family of Joycelyn Savage, a woman reported to be held against her will by R&B singer R. Kelly.
“Our client was pistol-whipped and rendered unconscious by a carjacker at the time of the accident,” Griggs said during the news conference.
Fordham's case has been continued to April 15.
Williams said Fordham is "victim" that was carjacked at a stop light near the home while picking up his dry cleaning.
"DeKalb County Police has not taken the time to figure out what was going on inside that car," Williams said.
At the same time Griggs and Williams spoke, DeKalb County Police also held a press conference of their own.
When asked about whether or not DeKalb County is investigating the alleged carjacking, police said this is still an active investigation.
"We are not prepared to answer that question at this time, we are working to verify all facts," said DeKalb County Police Major Jerry Lewis.
Police said they do want to figure out who the other person was at the scene.
"We still have questions ourselves, we still have additional leads that we intend to pursue, that's where we stand right now," Detective Lawrence Armstrong said.
Griggs said his team is preparing to play the entire, unedited video of the accident at Fordham's next court appearance and subpoena the alleged carjacker.
"This is about justice for all of the victims," Griggs said. "At no time did our client willfully leave the scene of the accident. That's what this was -- an accident."
They claim their client left because someone at the home had a gun at the scene after the crash. However, the attorneys for the 9-year-old girl said having the weapon is not a crime.
"In the state of Georgia, you are allowed to have a firearm on your private property," Attorney Chris Stewart said. "He didn't point it at the driver who was in the gold shirt. The reason he didn't was because no one knew that was the driver. So if they would have just simply asked us the fact, no one knew who the driver was until we got the surveillance footage."
The crash happened near the intersection of Cherokee Valley Drive and Cherokee Valley Way in Lithonia just before 7 p.m., Friday.
9-year-old LaDerihanna Holmes and 11-year-old Alayshia Phillips were playing outside in the yard when a car suddenly sped across the yard. According to DeKalb County Police, the car was traveling at a high rate of speed.
"He never once checked on LaDerihanna, yet he kept going in his vehicle," Stewart claimed.
Surveillance video from the home showed the car careening down the street and hitting a curb before blowing through the intersection. In the next instant, the car is in the front yard and slams into the two girls and hits the house.
LaDerihanna was taken to the hospital for a fractured skull and broken pelvis. Phillips, the 11-year-old, sustained a foot injury. Miraculously, the little girls were not killed.
"This baby that's in the hospital, she's gong through a lot," Wakena Timms, Phillips' aunt, said as she referenced LaDerihanna's injuries. "She's going through physical therapy everyday. All that pain that's a lot, And not even the physical pain, the emotional pain."
"These little girls could be dead, we could be planning a funeral right now," she added.
She said she just wants the truth to come about what happened. She said if Fordham is being honest about the carjacking, she wants to know why he did not stay on the scene and tell that to officers.
"Why didn't you stay there when the cops got there and explain to them exactly what happened," she questioned.
"You could have just said all of that from the beginning," she said.
Family members said the 9-year-old has been moved to a rehabilitation center and will be going through therapy for the next few weeks.
Through it all, the family said the 9-year-old is still smiling. She now has a new pink wheelchair.
Police said Fordham turned himself in Tuesday. He was taken to the DeKalb County Jail. This case is still being investigated.
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