Woman charged in DeKalb officer’s wrong-way crash death; services set

A 65-year-old woman has been charged with vehicular homicide in the death of a DeKalb County police officer who was killed after his patrol car was hit by a wrong-way driver, Fulton County police announced Wednesday.

Arimentha Best was still at Grady Memorial Hospital in critical condition after last Saturday’s crash, said Cpl. Kay Lester.

Best is charged with killing Officer Kevin Toatley, an eight-year veteran of the DeKalb police, when she was driving her red SUV the wrong way on the South Fulton Parkway near the Buffington Road exit at 12:30 a.m. Saturday, Lester said

Toatley’s funeral is scheduled for Friday at 1 p.m. at Stronghold Christian Church, 724 Rock Chapel Road, Lithonia, said DeKalb Capt. Steve Fore. Visitation is Thursday from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. at Gregory B. Lovett & Sons Funeral Home, 4347 Flat Shoals Parkway, Decatur.

Lester said the crash, which resulted in Toatley’s car bursting into flames, remains under investigation.

Two of Best’s passengers, Alexis Best, 23, and Freddie Taylor, 38, were in serious but stable condition at Atlanta Medical Center and Grady, respectively, Lester said.