SCHLATTERVILLE — Three people were killed and another was transported for injuries suffered last week after two vehicles were involved in a headon collision.
Georgia State Patrol Trooper First Class Three Chase Middleton was the first trooper on scene of the Monday, May 19, three-vehicle crash involving a Ford F-150 pickup, a Ford Taurus and a Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV — semi) on State Route 520 near High Bluff Road in western Brantley County.
GSP Trooper Dakota Blake Metts with the Brunswick post, Motor Carrier Compliance Division (MCCD) Sgt. Derek Strickland, and MCCD Trooper William Jennings responded to assist with the 11:10 p.m. crash.
As of Friday, May 23 at 3:30 p.m., Trooper Middleton’s report had not been finalized to release the names involved.
The Waycross GSP post was closed Monday, May 26 in observance of Memorial Day. Print deadline for this week’s edition of the Waycross Journal-Herald
was 6 a.m. Tuesday, May 27. The WJH received an obituary from Miles-Odum Funeral Home and Crematory for Michael Daniel Byrd, Jr., 20, of Waycross, who died early Tuesday morning, May 20 from injuries he sustained in an automobile accident Monday night in Brantley County. Byrd died along with his best friend, Donovan Spears, the obituary said.
Harrington Funeral Home posted on its website Spears died Monday, May 19 four days shy of his 20th birthday.
Byrd
Spears
Both were Class of 2024 Ware County High School graduates.
The incomplete investigation revealed the F-150, driven by a unidentified 93-year-old male who also died at the scene, was traveling west in the highway’s eastbound lanes. The F-150 struck the eastbound Taurus (unidentified driver) head on.
After impact, the F-150 traveled into the median while the Taurus rotated into the outside eastbound lane in front of a semi and trailer. The semi struck the Taurus in the front right corner.
A unidentified passenger of the Taurus was ejected and suffered fatal injuries. The driver of the F-150 also suffered a fatal injury.
State Route 520 eastbound was shut down for three hours (approximately 2:30 a.m., Tuesday, May 20) until the scene was cleared.
An unidentified 17-year-old female passenger in the Taurus was transported to a hospital. Her condition was unknown.
