All I-575 lanes open following fatal wreck

By Rhonda Cook

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The circumstances that led to the death of an Acworth woman who was standing in the median of I-575 in Cherokee County are still unclear but investigators have determined there were two separate wrecks.

Gordy Wright, spokesman for the Georgia State Patrol, said trooper investigators were back at the scene Saturday and they had several witness interviews to complete before knowing what caused the accidents.

“Witnesses said everything happened so quickly. Exactly what the witnesses saw and putting it together is the work now,” Wright told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Linda Louise Lopez, 38, was killed while standing in the median by a tractor-trailer truck that veered to avoid the automobiles stopped in the middle of the interstate.

Witnesses told troopers that Lopez had escaped one of the wrecked cars and was standing in the median between northbound and southbound lanes of I-575 near Towne Lake Parkway and Exit 8 when a tractor-trailer veered to avoid the automobiles.

No one else was harmed.

There were two unrelated wrecks near each other. Lopez was driving either the Nissan or the Toyota involved in one of the accidents, Wright said.

Troopers were called to the wrecks at 6:46 p.m. Friday. Wright said it appeared the wrecks happened because interstate traffic had slowed.

All southbound and northbound lanes were blocked for almost four hours and the roadway re-opened to free-flowing traffic around 11 p.m.

Friday night's incident is the second during the past week where a person involved in a wreck has gotten out of their car and then was killed by an oncoming vehicle.

Last weekend two women were killed after they were struck by an oncoming tow truck outside their parked cars on I-20 East near the Downtown Connector.

Satonya Cleveland, 35, of Lithonia, was killed at the scene last Saturday night, and Angel Woah, 23, died at Grady Memorial Hospital the next morning.