A 47-year-old man has been charged in the crash that killed a state Department of Transportation HERO worker who was helping a driver stranded on I-85 almost four months ago.

Kirk Sherwood, of Loganville, was in the Fulton County Jail Tuesday on a misdemeanor vehicular homicide charge, one count of violating the “move over law” and other less serious traffic offenses. His bond is $6,000.

Spencer Pass, of Jonesboro, father of three teenage sons, was the first HERO operator to be killed in the line of duty since the Highway Emergency Response Operator program began 15 years ago.

According to the Georgia State Patrol, Pass was in the emergency lane on I-85 near the Metropolitan Parkway exit south of downtown Atlanta the morning of Jan. 31.

Georgia State Patrol Sgt. Jerome Bowman said at the time of the accident, Pass had parked his truck behind a disabled Ford Ranger, and was standing at the left front of the Ranger when a dual-axle Ford F-450 pickup pulling a landscaping trailer sideswiped the HERO truck and the Ranger, then hit Pass, killing him.

Sherwood was injured and hospitalized.

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Peggy Harris (foreground) stocks the shelves at Sandy's IGA, which is the only grocery store in town, Tuesday, October 7, 2025, in Sparta. Hancock County has one of the highest rates of childhood food insecurity in the country. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

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