Three motorcyclists killed in separate crashes were among 14 people who died in holiday weekend wrecks across the state, authorities said.
A motorcyclist traveling southbound on Tara Boulevard around 9:30 p.m. Sunday was killed after colliding with an SUV that was turning onto Mundy’s Mill Road, Clayton County police spokeswoman Charlene Watson-Fraser said.
The motorcyclist has been identified as 38-year-old Joseph Smith, Channel 2 Action News reported.
No charges have been filed, but Watson-Fraser said the accident remains under investigation.
Saturday night in College Park, a motorcyclist was killed in a crash on Sullivan Road near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Channel 2 said. Police told the TV station that driver Kingg Fareed was using the GPS on his phone when he missed his turn on Airport Boulevard, tried to make a quick U-turn, and pulled into the path of 37-year-old Jamel Houseworth, who was killed.
Fareed, who was visiting the area from North Carolina, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and improper U-turn, Channel 2 said. Fareed appeared in court in Clayton County on Tuesday. Bond has not been set yet in the case.
In Cobb County, Kyle Bowersox, a 21-year-old Marine from Marietta who was on leave to visit his mother, was killed in a Friday evening wreck near Town Center Mall.
The Lassiter High School graduate was riding a motorcycle on Busbee Parkway in Kennesaw when another vehicle pulled in front of him attempting to enter the mall parking lot.
The fatalities were among 14 reported statewide during the 78-hour Labor Day holiday period that began at 6 p.m. Thursday and ended at midnight Monday, according to the Georgia State Patrol.
Other metro Atlanta fatal wrecks were investigated over the weekend by police in Snellville, Lilburn and Rockdale County.
Outside the metro area, fatal wrecks were investigated by GSP troopers in the Rome, Hartwell, Gainesville and Sylvania areas.
In addition, two drownings were reported on Georgia lakes.
Daruba McFarlane, 21, of Stone Mountain, drowned Sunday night while trying to swim across a cove on Lake Lanier, Hall County officials said.
Mark McKinnon, spokesman for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, said Gustavo Silva Hernandez, 28, of Atlanta, drowned Monday afternoon in Lake Allatoona.
According to witnesses, Hernandez was swimming with friends near the U.S. 41 bridge over the lake around 5:15 p.m. when he “began to panic and went down,” McKinnon said.
