Brandee Skinner

Brandon "Brandee" Leigh Whitaker Skinner (born c. 1975; died May 14, 2008 in Macon, Georgia) was a mother of two residing on Mountain Laurel Court in Riverchase.

On the morning of Sunday, July 16, 2005 Skinner drove her 2002 BMW sedan into the Cahaba River near Chace Lake Country Club. After it hit the water it was washed about 300 feet downstream. The water was high and muddy with runoff from recent rains associated with Hurricane Dennis. She escaped the car and screamed for help. Golfers on the nearby course rushed to her aid, but were unable to get to the submerged car. Her children Ashlyn (5) and Bryson (18 months) were found dead, still buckled into the back seat, later that afternoon.

She was subsequently indicted on two charges of manslaughter. Shelby County prosecutors claimed that her conduct "created a substantial and unjustified risk of death to her children, that she was aware of that risk and that she consciously disregarded it." Skinner died of an overdose of drugs before the case came to trial. Her attorney, Tommy Spina, said it appears the death was unintentional as her prescription for bipolar disorder had recently changed and she left no note. Skinner is interred next to her children in Georgia.

References

• "Search team finds bodies in car submerged in river." (July 18, 2005) Decatur Daily.
• Wilstach, Nancy (May 15, 2008) "Brormer Hoover woman, charged in deaths of her 2 children when she drove her car into river, dies in Georgia." Birmingham News