Mom gets probation in son's jaywalking death

A Georgia woman has received a year of probation in the jaywalking death of her 4-year-old son, but the judge is also giving her the rare chance to clear her name at a new trial.

Raquel Nelson was convicted by a jury this month of vehicular homicide after her son was struck as the family crossed a busy street north of Atlanta.

The judge gave Nelson a sentence on Tuesday that also includes 40 hours of community service, but he also made the unusual move of offering her a new trial. If she's found innocent, her record would be cleared.

Her attorney David Savoy said they will take the judge up on the offer.

The woman and her children were crossing a street in Marietta in April when the death occurred.

Earlier, she had faced up to three years in prison.

An attorney for the 30-year-old woman says she and her three children were crossing a street in Marietta in April after getting off a bus, three-tenths of a mile from a crosswalk. The attorney says the son bolted from a median and was hit by a van.

The driver, Jerry Guy, was sentenced to six months after pleading guilty to hit-and-run. Nelson faced up to 36 months in prison.

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