The Pierce County Grand Jury declined to return a “true bill” indictment for homicide by vehicle in the May, 2024, death of Logan Sharp, 7, a Patterson youngster who was struck and killed on Tyre Bridge Road.
The Grand Jury determined there was not enough evidence to charge Dalton Cason in the case. The indictment was opened Friday, Nov. 21 in Pierce County Superior Court.
Marilyn Bennett, District Attorney for the Waycross Judicial Circuit, said she understands that while this may be difficult news for the public, her office is bound by and respects the results of the Grand Jury.
“I respectfully request the community respect the decision of the Grand Jury, the officers and witnesses in the case who may have been involved in the investigation and the families of both Logan Sharpe and Dalton Cason during this difficult time,” Bennett said.
Sharpe died May 19, 2024 of injuries he received after being struck by a vehicle driven by Cason, 25, of Patterson.
When first responders arrived at the scene, lifesaving efforts began immediately, but Sharpe did not survive the injuries he sustained in the impact.
Multiple local agencies responded and the Georgia State Patrol’s Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team (SCRT-I) led the investigation.
Their investigation found:
• A group of children, including Sharpe, were playing in the front yard of a residence on Tyre Bridge Road around 1:12 p.m. Sunday, May 19, 2024.
• Cason had traveled down Tyre Bridge Road to the point where the road was closed due to construction of a new bridge over 60 Foot Creek. He did a U-turn and traveled back in a southerly direction.
• Cason saw a group of children playing on the right side of the road, but did not see Sharpe until he ran in the roadway. SCRT-1 noted that a trash can on the side of the road may have obscured Sharpe’s ability to see approaching traffic and Cason’s ability to see the shoulder of the road. Cason tried to avoid hitting him, but reported that he could not stop in time and Sharpe was struck by the front bumper of a 2015 Ford F150 Cason was driving.
• SCRT-I determined the area of impact was in the middle of the southbound lane based upon evidence in the roadway. Cason’s truck had minor damage and the airbags did not deploy. (There was no stored vehicle data to recover from the Airbag Control Module, commonly referred to as a “black box”.)
• Cason stopped and called 9-1-1, confirmed by cell phone records, which also indicated he was not using his phone 15 minutes prior to the crash.
• Shortly after the crash, Cason consented to a voluntary blood test to test for any levels of alcohol or drugs. Cason was not suspected of being under the influence by any of the officers he encountered throughout the investigation, including officers who are trained to identify signs of impairment under the influence of a controlled substance. Standardized Field Sobriety Tests were not requested.
• The GBI Crime Lab reported June 20, 2024, that Cason’s blood was negative for alcohol.
• The GBI Crime Lab reported Oct. 9, 2024, that Cason’s blood was positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine and fentanyl.
• A crime lab toxicologist advised SCRT-I December 11, 2024, the amounts of drugs in Cason’s blood “could be impairing, however for a chronic user this amount may not manifest any indicators of impairment and a DUI charge would need to be supported with Standardized Field Sobriety.”
• SCRT-I determined Cason did not break any laws which would have contributed to the crash.
A responding trooper, who is not a part of SCRT-I, obtained an arrest warrant for Cason January 27, 2025. The warrant was for DUI, a misdemeanor, which would not have been referred to the District Attorney’s Office.
Sharpe’s mother reached out to the DA’s Office May 20, 2025, requesting a review of the casefile for purposes of determining whether there was sufficient evidence to charge Cason with homicide by vehicle. At that time, the DA’s office requested the casefile for review. Part of the review was to consult with a DUI expert with the Prosecuting Attorney’s Council of Georgia (PAC) who agreed to review the case for the DA’s office. The DUI expert concluded he did not see any evidence of impairment that could be used for prosecution and that Sharpe’s death was an unfortunate accident.
Because Georgia law gives authority for a jury to make factual determinations, such as impairment and causation, the DA’s Office presented the case to the Pierce County Grand Jury for consideration of an indictment for homicide by vehicle despite the SCRT-I team, crime lab toxicologist and a PAC DUI expert determining there was no evidence of impairment.
The Grand Jury had three findings to consider: 1) whether Cason had controlled substances in system at the time of impact, 2) whether Cason was less safe, or impaired, as a result of the controlled substances and 3) whether Cason caused the death of Sharpe as a result of his impairment.
The indictment was opened Friday afternoon, Nov. 21. The Grand Jury did not find there was enough evidence to prosecute Cason for homicide by vehicle and “no billed” the charges.
