Authorities have filed murder charges against a driver one month after he allegedly caused a crash that killed a 76-year-old woman while he was fleeing from law enforcement officers.
Leon Jamison-Alexander Whitby also faces a slew of traffic charges in the incident that led to Rebecca Tillery’s death, according to Coweta County Jail records.
Whitby, 20, of Locust Grove, was driving more than 110 mph on I-85 when troopers began to pursue his 2013 Dodge Challenger on Sept. 17, Georgia State Patrol spokeswoman Franka Young previously said.
At one point, he exited onto Poplar Road in Newnan and tried to turn right, but he crossed the westbound lanes and struck a median, a crash report said.
The left front tire of the Dodge separated from the vehicle and went into the eastbound lanes, striking a GMC Canyon. The Dodge continued to spin, traveled across the median and smashed into a Toyota Corolla, according to the crash report.
Tillery, who was driving the Toyota, was taken to a hospital, Young said. She later died.
Whitby and two people who were in the GMC were taken to Newnan Hospital. Whitby was then arrested and booked into the Coweta jail, where he remains without bond.
In addition to murder, Whitby is charged with vehicular homicide, serious injury by vehicle, speeding, reckless driving, fleeing or attempting to elude police officer, failure to maintain lane and a headlights violation.
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