Man killed as SUV crashes into home

By Alexis Stevens and Larry Hartstein

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“What’s a safer place than sitting in a living room with your family?”

That’s what Jeremy Bryant wondered Sunday.

His 60-year-old uncle, George Michael Bryant, was watching a movie with his wife, daughter and two grandchildren Saturday night when a Lincoln Navigator slammed into their Douglasville house.

Bryant, a retired Vietnam War veteran, was killed.

His wife, Joyce is expected to be released Monday from Atlanta Medical Center, and his 9-year-old granddaughter, Aylisha Walters, is recovering at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite, Jeremy Bryant said Sunday night.

Walters was upgraded to fair condition Sunday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Police identified the driver as William Steward, 47, of Douglas County. He was taken to Grady Hospital; his condition was not being released.

“I’m hoping he’s going to get what he deserves,” Jeremy Bryant said.

Traveling at a high rate of speed, the Navigator knocked down mailboxes and bushes and hit a parked vehicle before barreling into the left side of the one-story home about 50 feet off Berea Road, authorities said.

“I’ve been a coroner for 27 years, and I’ve never seen nothing like this,” Douglas County coroner Randy Daniel said. “Never. Never.”

“We have no idea why this happened,” added Douglas County spokesman Wes Tallon, who said the SUV traveled nearly to the back wall of the home.

Bryant’s daughter, Shannon Bryant, and a 13-year-old grandson were treated at a hospital and released.

Bryant’s son, Michael, was the only one not home. He was having a cookout with friends to celebrate his birthday, Jeremy Bryant said.

The Navigator pinned Joyce Bryant, according to her brother-in-law.

“She said she heard a boom, the lights went out and she was up under the car,” Lamar Bryant said. “She could feel the heat of the engine when she was laying up under there...I guess my brother took the full blow of it.”

Neighbor Mark Miller said people often drive way too fast down the street, even though the speed limit is 35 mph.

“People just fly down this road,” Miller said. “There’s a curve right before you get to the corner. They’ll come around the curve and lose control.”

Miller wasn’t home when the incident happened around 8 p.m., but he returned to find vehicle parts scattered on his driveway. The bush that previously grew next to his mailbox was gone.

“My neighbor’s mailbox is two houses down,” he said.

There’s a gaping hole where the front wall of the Bryants’ home once stood.

“It looks like a bus hit it,” Miller said.

The Douglas County fire department put a tarp over the house Sunday afternoon, and Jeremy Bryant said relatives were paying for a hotel for the family.

The State Patrol’s Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team responded to the scene, as it does for any fatal accident that could lead to a criminal prosecution.

Lt. Paul Cosper said Steward’s blood will be tested for alcohol. Investigators will diagram the accident “and figure out formulas for speed and come up with an extensive report.”

Steward could face a charge of vehicular homicide, Cosper said.

“They’ll collect all the evidence and then make the appropriate charge,” he said.

Bryant was a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, but didn’t talk about it much, his nephew said. Bryant’s health “wasn’t the greatest” and he was on disability.

Bryant loved to hunt and fish and ride a motorcycle, his nephew said.

“And he was just a good family guy,” Jeremy Bryant said. “That’s mostly what he did, just be around his family and his grandkids.”

An autopsy will be done on Monday of Bryant’s body, and the family will be able to make funeral arrangements once his body is returned.

— Staff writer Marcus K. Garner contributed to this story.