Cobb family wishes no ill will to driver who caused fatal I-75 wreck
The family of a man killed in an tractor-trailer crash on a Cobb County stretch of I-75 wishes for justice, not ill will, for the man accused of killing their loved one, according to Channel 2 Action News.
According to a police warrant, Mark Burkhalter was driving on I-75 near Windy Hill Road on Friday afternoon when he improperly changed lanes, causing a chain reaction wreck that led to Christopher Coleman, 24, crashing into the back of a tractor-trailer.
Coleman’s family told the television station that he had been on his way to see his mother in Marietta. He died at the crash scene.
Before moving to Cobb, he played football at Memorial Day School in Savannah, Channel 2 reported. He loved the Indianapolis Colts and was studying to become an electrician.
“He always held down one or two jobs and he always loved to work,” his brother Curtis Coleman told the station. “He was definitely someone really dedicated at what he was doing wherever he was at.”
Curtis Coleman hopes another family doesn’t have to grieve like he now does for his brother, who leaves behind three other siblings.
“At the end of the day, it’s God’s will,” he said. “I don’t wish ill toward anybody, only for justice to be served.”
Burkhalter, 35, was arrested at the scene and charged with second-degree vehicular homicide, which is defined by Georgia code as being an unintentional death.
The Ellenwood man posted a bond of $27,720 early Saturday, according to Cobb jail records.
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Ben Brasch is the reporter tasked with keeping Fulton County government accountable. The Florida native moved to Atlanta for a job with The AJC. If there's something important to you going on in Fulton, he wants to know about it. Help him better metro Atlanta by dropping a line, anonymously or otherwise.
