15 killed in holiday weekend traffic wrecks

By Alexis Stevens

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A 10-year-old Acworth boy is among the 15 people killed in vehicle crashes during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, according to the Georgia Department of Public Safety.

Channel 2 Action News State Highway Patrol troopers were out in force Sunday to deter speeding drivers..

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Michael Jaimes was traveling with his family Saturday evening on Ga. 61 in Bartow County when the family's van was struck by a motorcycle traveling at a high rate of speed, Gordy Wright, spokesman for the Georgia State Patrol, told the AJC.

The motorcyclist, Ronnie Eugene Callahan, 27, of Fairmount, was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene, Wright said. The impact killed Michael, and two other family members, ages 13 and 5, were treated and released from a local hospital, Wright said. The van's driver, 37-year-old Francisca A. Jaimes, was not injured.

Statewide, the GSP handled 434 crashes resulting in 247 injuries during a period beginning Wednesday evening and ending Sunday night.

Troopers from the Villa Rica post worked four separate fatal crashes. Other fatal wrecks were reported in Gwinnett County, Blue Ridge, Toccoa, Columbus and Richmond County, according to the governor's office.

Thirteen people were killed in car crashes during the same period last year, police said.