Infant killed in Georgia State Patrol chase, officials say
A 7-month old girl was killed and others were injured in a weekend crash impacting 10 vehicles at the end of a high-speed Georgia State Patrol chase, officials say.
The infant, Kalayia Tolbert, was taken to the hospital, where she died of her injuries, according to the Georgia Department of Public Safety, which issued a news release about the wreck.
“The loss of a child is heartbreaking, and our thoughts remain with her family as they face an unimaginable tragedy,” the agency said in the statement.
Cameron Kemp, the driver who officials say fled from Georgia troopers, also died of his injuries in the crash after he taken to the hospital, officials said.
Just before midnight Saturday, Georgia State Patrol troopers spotted an Audi sedan driving at 110 mph in a 60 mph zone on I-20, the Department of Public Safety said in the news release.
The sedan was driving “on the darkened interstate without headlights illuminated and was recklessly weaving through traffic,” the news release said.
That’s when the trooper initiated a traffic stop. The driver began to pull over but then quickly accelerated again at a high speed before taking the exit at Candler Road and getting back on the interstate, with the trooper pursuing, according to public safety officials.
The driver exited at Wesley Chapel Road, lost control and collided with a guardrail and multiple other vehicles, the agency said.
“Three infants traveling in one of the vehicles struck were transported to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Tragically, Kalayia Tolbert, age 7 months, succumbed to her injuries,” the agency said.
The name of the trooper was not included in the news release. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has requested the incident report for the crash.
Kemp had a suspended driver’s license and two active arrest warrants, Georgia State Patrol said, along with a lengthy criminal history, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections. He’s been in and out of prison since 2015 on several charges, including aggravated battery, aggravated assault and firearms-related charges. He was last released in July 2025, online prison records show.
An AJC investigation examining 6,700 Georgia State Patrol pursuits from 2019 to 2023 found more than half ended in crashes and often injured bystanders. The department’s loose chase policy contributes to Georgia’s police pursuit death rate, which the AJC found to be the worst in the U.S. at the time of the investigation.
Georgia State Patrol defends its pursuit policies and says it’s the drivers fleeing law enforcement, not the troopers, who initiate chases.
“Our troopers are entrusted with the responsibility of protecting the public, enforcing the law, and addressing dangerous driving behaviors that threaten the safety of others,” the department said in the news release. “A motorist traveling at extreme speeds, without headlights on dark roadways, and recklessly maneuvering through traffic presents an immediate danger to everyone sharing the roadway.”