An Austell teenager who was a cheerleader at a Douglas County Christian high school was killed in a two-car crash last week, officials confirmed.
Juliette Grace Howell, a senior at King’s Way Christian Academy, was a passenger in a 2013 Kia Rio traveling north on Ga. 5 just before 9 a.m. on Dec. 7 when the driver lost control and crossed the center line, according to the Georgia State Patrol. The car struck a guardrail, which spun it counterclockwise, and its rear struck the front of a 2019 Dodge Journey that was headed in the opposite direction.
Howell, 17, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was rushed to Wellstar Douglas Hospital, where she died, the GSP said.
The driver of the Kia suffered serious injuries, while the two occupants of the Dodge had minor to serious injuries. All three were taken to Atlanta hospitals. An update on their conditions was not provided.
Howell was a member of King’s Way’s honor society and a cheerleader for its football and basketball teams, according to her obituary. Howell, just one of three girls in a senior class of 14, wanted to study nursing at West Georgia Technical College.
“She was beautiful, caring, compassionate, generous and loved by many,” her family wrote. “She had the most beautiful laugh.”
In a GoFundMe campaign set up to help with funeral expenses, Howell’s family said she “was enjoying her friends, family and looking forward to what the future held.”
Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date.
“Julie’s loves in life were her family, her boyfriend, her friends, sunflowers, reading, listening to music, pasta and going to the beach,” her obituary read. “She had a love for butterflies, especially blue ones.”
The crash remains under investigation, and the state patrol did not say if investigators were considering filing charges.
