The 27-year-old DeKalb County man accused of fleeing from police, then causing a crash that killed two innocent people, is a convicted felon with an extensive criminal history.
A Lithonia woman and her granddaughter were killed and four other people injured when Jeremiah Maurice Warthen struck a sedan Wednesday night while fleeing from DeKalb County police, authorities said.
The incident started as a traffic stop on an SUV around 7 p.m. near the intersection of Snapfinger Woods and East Wesley Chapel Road, near Decatur, according to Mekka Parish, spokeswoman for DeKalb County police.
“As an officer exited his unit and began to approach that SUV, the driver of the SUV rammed that police unit and then fled the location,” Parish told 95.5 FM and AM 750 News/Talk WSB.
The officer lost sight of the SUV and other officers assisted with the search for the suspect, Parish said. Minutes later, officers drove up to the crash scene on East Wesley Chapel Road, according to police.
The SUV collided with a red sedan, carrying three adults and three children, police said.
Two passengers in the sedan, 57-year-old Alicia Moxley and her 3-year-old granddaughter, Jordan Haynes, died at the scene of the wreck, Parish said. The four others in the car were transported to various hospitals in conditions ranging from serious to critical, she said.
Parish said that the 17-year-old girl driving the car, as well as a 58-year-old male and two boys ages 5 and 7 who were passengers in the car, were all in stable condition Thursday afternoon.
The SUV’s driver and a passenger were both arrested, Parish said. A family member of one of the suspects was also arrested at the wreck scene on an obstruction charge, according to police. The names of the other two people arrested have not been released.
The SUV driver, identified Thursday as Warthen, was charged with two counts of first degree vehicular homicide, hit and run, aggravated assault on a police officer, criminal interference with government property, obstruction, reckless driving, aggressive driving, improper passing, driving on the wrong side of the roadway, operation of a vehicle while declared a habitual violator, seat belt violation and cocaine trafficking.
Warthen was denied bond at his first court appearance Thursday afternoon.
Warthen is a convicted felon who has twice been in Georgia state prison, according to the state Department of Corrections. He was incarcerated from November 2003 until February 2006 and again from January through October 2009, records show.
In 2003, Warthen pleaded guilty to felony aggravated assault, and several misdemeanors including pimping, contributing to delinquency of a minor, and obstruction. He also has prior convictions on drug and terroristic threats charges, according to criminal records.
Zakyia Davis, Moxley’s daughter, told Channel 2 Action News that her mother would not want her to seek vengeance, but the deaths have devastated her family.
“Someone is going to answer as to why this went the way that it did,” Davis said.
The wreck remains under investigation.
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