The Independence Day weekend ended in tragedy for at least 19 people on Georgia’s roads and waterways.
The Georgia Department of Public Safety reported 18 traffic deaths from Friday evening through Tuesday at midnight. That’s down from the 21 deaths reported during the July 4th holiday in 2022, though the holiday fell on a Monday and shortened the weekend for many.
On the waterways, no drownings were reported on Lake Lanier or Lake Allatoona. A man’s body was pulled from a southeast Georgia river following a personal watercraft incident, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Shortly after 2 a.m. Sunday, a wrong-way crash killed two people on I-20.
Investigators said Cyrus L. Williams, 33, of Atlanta was driving a Nissan Sentra westbound on I-20 eastbound shortly when he struck a white, Hyundai Sonata head-on. The crash happened near the Hamilton E. Holmes Exit, police said.
Both Williams and the driver of the Hyundai, Denise L. Watkins, 32, of Fairburn, died at the scene of the crash, which closed the eastbound lanes for several hours. A passenger in the Hyundai was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital for treatment of injuries not believed life-threatening, police said. The crash remains under investigation, but excessive speed is believed to be a factor.
“RIH my sweet child!!” Watkins’ mother, Areka Watkins, said in a social media post. “Lord I’m lost, I’m numb, I’m confused, but God I will continue to praise you!!”
Other metro Atlanta crashes were reported in DeKalb, Paulding and Coweta counties and Union City, according to the DPS. State patrol troopers from various posts also investigated deadly crashes, including in Thomaston, Villa Rica, Blue Ridge, LaGrange and Athens.
In southeast Georgia, a son tried to save his father when he fell off a personal watercraft in the Satilla River at Warner’s Landing in Brantley County, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. That was Thursday evening.
On Sunday at 9:40 a.m., the man’s body was pulled from the river. He was identified as 55-year-old Steve Elkins of Atkinson.
Statewide, 33 people were cited for boating under the influence, the DNR said. Three people sustained minor injuries in boating incidents, including on Lake Allatoona where a man’s foot was hit by a propeller on a pontoon boat on Saturday.
On Monday, a boat struck an unidentified object in the Ocmulgee River in Houston County causing it to sink, the DNR said. No injuries were reported.
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