Motorists killed in Tuesday's I-285 crash identified

By Mike Morris

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

DeKalb County police Wednesday were still looking for the driver of a tractor-trailer believed to have set off a chain-reaction crash that left a Stone Mountain man and a Covington man dead and shut down I-285 during Tuesday's morning commute.

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John Spink, jspink@ajc.com Police have shut down southbound I-285 as they investigate accident where two people were killed early Tuesday near East Ponce de Leon Avenue.

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John Spink, jspink@ajc.com A police investigator takes pictures of one of the cars involved.

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John Spink, jspink@ajc.com Two people were killed early Tuesday in a wreck that shut down the southbound lanes of I-285 in DeKalb County.

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The crash happened shortly after 5:30 a.m. Tuesday on I-285 southbound near the East Ponce de Leon Avenue overpass.

DeKalb police spokeswoman Mekka Parish told the AJC that investigators believe a tractor-trailer struck a Ford Focus, causing the Focus driver to lose control and collide with a Toyota Camry.

The tractor-trailer driver left the scene, Parish said.

She said the drivers of the Focus and Camry got out of their wrecked cars, and were struck by a fourth oncoming vehicle.

Both men were killed. They were identified as Gashaw Tefera, 38, of Stone Mountain and Artraceous "Trey" Little, 21, of Covington.

The driver of that fourth vehicle was taken to a local hospital for treatment of injuries that Parish said were not believed to be serious. That driver does not face charges.

The trucker who left the scene does face charges, Parish said. She did not have a description of the tractor-trailer.

The southbound lanes of I-285 were blocked for nearly four hours,with police routing all southbound traffic off of the Perimeter at Lawrenceville Highway. At 8:30 a.m, southbound traffic on I-285 was backed up about six miles, nearly to Spaghetti Junction.

Traffic was also jammed on I-85, as well as all the major surface streets in the area, as commuters sought alternate routes to their Tuesday morning destinations.

The wreckage was finally cleared and the interstate reopened about 9:15 a.m.

Trucker Courtland Dean was stuck in the backup just behind the crash site.

He said that since he couldn’t go anywhere for several hours, he used the time to take a nap.

“I slept, man,” Dean told the AJC. “Got me some rest.”

Staff photographer John Spink contributed to this article.