A Washington, D.C., radio personality, who’d been living in metro Atlanta, died in an automobile accident on Interstate 20 Thursday morning.

Sheila Stewart, who worked for Radio One, was on her way to work at the company’s Atlanta office for a 6 a.m. broadcast that was to be heard in D.C., according to Chris Wegmann, the regional vice president and general manager for Radio One’s Washington properties.

Around 5:30 a.m., Stewart’s car stopped on I-20 at the I-285 southbound exit ramp, according to DeKalb County police spokeswoman Mekka Parish, and was rear-ended by a box truck. She was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, but died from her injuries.

Stewart was the News and Community Affairs Director for Radio One’s Washington stations and for the last several weeks she’d been sending her broadcast from Atlanta, Wegmann said. Her co-workers in Washington became concerned when she missed her 6 a.m. broadcast Thursday morning. It was 9 a.m. before they found out about the accident, Wegmann said. Stewart was expected back in Washington on Thursday evening for a weekend full of station-related activities.

“There was no one more wired in this city than Sheila Stewart,” Wegmann said.

About the Author

Keep Reading

On April 8, 1974, in Atlanta, Hank Aaron smashed baseball’s home run record. Our special coverage celebrating the 50th anniversary of this magical moment has begun online and in our print editions. There’s still more to come as Monday’s historic anniversary arrives.

Credit: Richard Watkins

Featured

Travelers wait in Concourse F, the international terminal, at Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (Arvin Temkar / AJC)

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com