A Griffin man was sentenced to five years in prison about 11 months after he fled the scene of a deadly crash, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Jacob Lee Nelson was also ordered to spend seven years on probation after hitting and killing 31-year-old Deandre Head in January, according to the Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office.
Nelson was driving a Dodge Charger southbound on Patterson Road on Jan. 26 when he struck Head, who was walking on the shoulder of the road, according to the Georgia State Patrol. Nelson fled the scene and was discovered in Butts County later that evening. He was arrested and held without bond at the Spalding County Jail.
Nelson faced charges of vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of an accident with death, duty to make immediate report of accident and failure to maintain lane. On Dec. 12, he entered a non-negotiated guilty plea to the charges of homicide by vehicle in the first degree, hit-and-run and failure to maintain lane, according to the DA’s office.
Credit: Facebook
Credit: Facebook
After the fatal incident, family members expressed their sadness for Head and his daughter, who was born just one day before the fatal crash.
“He never got a chance to see her, and that’s what hurts me the most because he lived for his children. And he definitely wanted to take part in her life,” Head’s aunt, Anita Harps, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution earlier this year.
A lifelong musician, Head was 18 when he started singing for the Gospel Challengers, a six-member group led by Maranatha International Christian Church Bishop Lee Moore. His family described his ability as a “gift that God had given him.”
“It was born in him,” Harps said. “He sang when he was 3 years old.”
About the Author
