She was blamed for racing on the interstate and causing a crash that killed her 6-month-old baby and boyfriend. As she recovered from a broken neck, Kyrie Alassen Anderson’s name made national headlines.
But the Georgia State Patrol’s initial reports on the wreck weren’t correct, Anderson’s mother said hours after the May 10 wreck. On Tuesday, Anderson’s name was cleared when the GSP released the results of its investigation.
Not only was Anderson not at fault, she wasn’t even driving at the time of the Rockdale County wreck, a GSP spokeswoman said.
“The initial information provided by the motorists at the scene was preliminary and in any investigation is subject to change,” Franka Young, GSP spokeswoman, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “During the investigation, information brought forth through follow-up interviews and the video from the convenience store helped to determine that the driver was Edi Rodriguez and that they were not racing.”
Anderson, 22, of Madison, was seriously injured in the wreck, which killed her son, 6-month-old Hunter Anderson, and boyfriend, Edi Rodriguez, 20, of Covington. Investigators initially said Kyrie Anderson had been racing in her Honda Accord at the time of the I-20 crash in Covington.
But Anderson’s mother, Shawna Tallon, had a different story. She said there was no race and that Rodriguez had been driving. The trooper who first investigated the wreck arrived after those involved had been transported to hospitals, leading to the release of information based on witnesses at the scene, Young said.
Tallon declined to comment about Tuesday’s information from the GSP at the advice of her attorney, she said.
Investigators now believe the Honda was westbound on I-20 in the center lane when Rodriquez lost control of the car, struck the guardrail on the right shoulder of the road, and then re-entered the travel lanes. Rodriquez exited the Honda when it came to rest in the left lane, the GSP said.
That’s when Rodriquez and the Honda were struck by a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado, which then hit the concrete median barrier and came to rest on its left side facing west. The infant and Rodriquez both died, and Kyrie Anderson sustained a broken neck and was hospitalized at Grady Memorial Hospital.
State troopers used surveillance video from a gas station where the couple and baby stopped for about five minutes before the crash, Young said.
“In reviewing a video from a nearby gas station, troopers observed the Honda Accord pull into the station for gas with Rodriquez exiting the vehicle from the driver’s seating position,” the GSP said. “He then re-entered the vehicle on the driver’s side and left the station lot driving the Honda. The crash occurred approximately five minutes later, six miles away.”
No charges are expected to be filed in the wreck.
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