Crashes killed 14 people on Georgia roads during the three-day Memorial Day weekend, according to the state Department of Public Safety.
That’s up from the same holiday last year, when 11 died in crashes, according to investigators. State troopers cited 413 people for driving under the influence, and the weekend numbers “reflect continued concern on Georgia’s roadways,” the DPS said.
No drownings were reported, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources said. But 29 people were cited for boating under the influence, and four people were injured in separate incidents on the water, the DNR said.
The rainy weather contributed to at least one incident on lakes, according to Mark McKinnon, DNR spokesperson. That’s because three juveniles were on a personal watercraft during heavy rain on Lick Creek at Lake Oconee and struck rocks.
“The driver said he couldn’t see because of the rain and was driving over 50 mph, trying to get back to the safety of the boat ramp, when he went up the rip rap, almost all the way to the guard rail on the highway,” McKinnon said in an emailed statement.
All three were taken to hospitals for treatment of injuries not believed to be life-threatening.
The cause of a crash that killed three people with ties to metro Atlanta and an Alabama college remained under investigation Monday.
The single-vehicle crash happened at about 3 a.m. Saturday when Clayton County police said a vehicle veered out of its lane and went into a ditch before becoming engulfed in flames. The incident occurred near the exit ramp for Tara Boulevard, police said.
The three victims were identified by officials from Stillman College — a historically Black college in Tuscaloosa, Alabama — as student Sieas Elliott and alumni Destiny Gardner and Varick Lawrence.
Elliott, from Stockbridge, played baseball for Stillman and planned to serve as an assistant coach this year while completing a bachelor’s degree with a major in early childhood education, according to school officials and his family.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Lawrence, of Lithonia, also played baseball at Stillman before graduating in 2023. He shared a young child with Gardner, who worked as a juvenile officer at the DeKalb Regional Youth Detention Center, the school said. The Alabama native served as the 74th Miss Stillman and graduated in 2022 with a degree in criminal justice.
A two-vehicle crash Monday afternoon in Gwinnett County killed two people, including a 6-year-old, according to police.
The crash happened around 5:30 p.m. at the intersection of Old Fountain and Old Peachtree roads, Cpl. J.C. Madiedo said. A 66-year-old in the same vehicle also died.
The names of those killed in the crash were not released. The investigation continued Tuesday, police said.
Deadly crashes were also reported in Cobb and Richmond counties and the cities of Douglasville and South Fulton, according to the DPS. Troopers from the following posts also investigated fatal crashes: Candler County, Peach County, Brunswick and Perry.
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