An Atlanta firefighter was arrested Monday, about four months after a crash in which he was suspected of driving while drunk that resulted in the death of a baby in Cobb County.
Zachary Williams, of Douglasville, was taken into custody on multiple charges, including first-degree homicide by vehicle, online jail records show. He was booked into the Cobb jail, where he remains without bond.
Williams is a lieutenant for Atlanta Fire and Rescue and has been on leave since the crash, officials with the fire department confirmed. A fire spokeswoman said the department does not comment on active investigations involving its personnel.
In a Cobb arrest warrant filed last week, Williams was accused of drunken driving and speeding in a Dec. 30 crash that injured him, his passenger and a couple in another car, Alexander and Eunice Gyasi. Eunice was nine months pregnant at the time and her baby had to be delivered in an emergency Cesarian about two hours after the crash, the warrant said.
According to the arrest affidavit, the baby, Evangela, died 28 minutes after the procedure.
The crash took place near Austell at the intersection of Humphries Hill and Mill Branch roads just after 11:15 p.m., the warrant said. Williams, driving a 2016 Toyota Tacoma, is suspected of speeding at about 67 mph in a 35-mph zone, according to police.
The warrant describes how Williams failed to stay in his lane as he negotiated a right-hand curve and drifted into the other lane. The Tacoma hit the couple’s SUV, a Toyota 4Runner, as they came from the opposite direction, the warrant said.
While Williams was being treated at the scene, he told Austell firefighters he had been drinking before the crash, the warrant said. Cobb police executed a search warrant to get Williams’ medical records from Grady Memorial Hospital, where he was taken after the wreck. According to police, Williams’ blood alcohol concentration, taken about three hours after the collision, was .156, nearly twice the legal limit of .08.
According to Channel 2 Action News, Alexander and Eunice Gyasi were returning from a baby shower. They had experienced difficulties with fertility and suffered multiple miscarriages over the course of eight years, they told the news station.
Williams is charged with misdemeanor counts of speeding, failure to maintain lane, reckless driving and driving under the influence of alcohol, as well as the felony count of first-degree homicide by vehicle, per jail records.
