Murray County man sentenced to prison for 2021 vehicular homicide

MURRAY COUNTY, Ga. (WDEF) — A Murray County man was recently sentenced to prison for a vehicular homicide that happened in 2021.

Superior Court Judge Scott Minter sentenced 22-year-old Seth Nathaniel Mathis to serve a total of 20 years. Mathis faces 15 years in prison for vehicular homicide and 5 years on probation for making false statements.

The Conasauga Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office made the announcement on November 10.

Mathis’s trial started on October 23 and ended on October 27, 2023.

A Murray County jury found him guilty of two counts of first-degree vehicular homicide, driving under the influence (DUI), reckless driving and false statements.

Mathis was with three girls at the time of the June 9, 2021, incident, according to authorities. His girlfriend Whitney Thomas, an unnamed female juvenile and Emmerie Kilpatrick were with Mathis in his truck when they went up Grassy Mountain.

Evidence in court revealed that all the occupants of the vehicle were drinking, and they were all under 21.

“The jury saw multiple videos that were recorded during the trip, which showed them all drinking inside Mr. Mathis’ Ford F-150,” according to the district attorney’s press release.

The district attorney’s office says that Mathis failed to make a curve while heading down the mountain and struck a tree. Kilpatrick died in the wreck, authorities said.

In addition, Mathis was already on probation for a DUI. He and his girlfriend, Thomas, then told authorities that she was driving. However, Thomas and the juvenile later told police the truth, that Mathis was the driver.

The judge also sentenced Thomas to “a term of 4 years, 15 days in jail, the balance on probation,” for making false statements to police. She pled guilty to making false statements on November 8.