A Kennesaw man was arrested last week after police said he unintentionally killed his father-in-law during a December crash.

Jeffrey Nelms was booked into Cobb County jail Thursday on misdemeanor charges of second-degree vehicular homicide, speeding and failing to maintain, jail records show. He was released the next day on a bond of $11,220.

The 30-year-old was driving a pick-up truck south on Barrett Parkway with his father-in-law Clifton Mankin Jr. about 5 p.m. Dec. 5 when Nelms lost control.

Police wouldn’t say how fast he was driving but say he was above the 45-mph speed limit when he drove over the concrete median and crashed.

Mankin was taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital in serious condition and died the same day. He was 53.

This isn’t the first trauma the family has dealt with.

Three years ago, Nelms was stabbed in the chest after a shouting match outside The Place Bar & Grill on Sandy Plains Road. A man was arrested for the crime and later pleaded guilty.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution at the time reported Nelms as being a father of three. He was placed in a medically induced coma.

Nelms didn't have health insurance at the time and couldn't afford the open-heart surgery he needed. But 124 people donated $9,355 to an online fundraising campaign.

The fundraising page said he was in the coma about a week.

About the Author

Keep Reading

Family and friends participated in a processional led by a horse-drawn carriage carrying the remains of Cornelius Taylor from Ebenezer to Atlanta City Hall on Monday, February 3, 2025. Taylor, a homeless man, died during an incident involving city workers clearing a homeless encampment on January 16.
(Miguel Martinez/ AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Featured

“Our members cannot be bought off,” General President Sean O’Brien said in a social media statement, calling UPS' offers “illegal and haphazard.” (Hyosub Shin/AJC 2023)

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC