An Atlanta woman has been arrested in the hit-and-run wreck that killed a Lithonia man Wednesday morning, Channel 2 Action News reported.
Franchette Stanley, 24, faces charges of vehicular homicide, hit and run and stop sign and license violations, according to records at the DeKalb County jail, where she was held Friday morning.
Terrence Smith died near the intersection of McAfee Road and Shamrock Drive when a van reportedly plowed into his SUV, tossing it into a telephone pole.
Another driver, Lathario Jackson, 31, of Stone Mountain ran to check on Smith while the woman driving the van fled with a passenger and a baby, who appeared to be six to nine months old, the witness told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In the backseat of the SUV, Jackson, a father of five, saw an empty child's car seat and feared the lifeless man in the front seat left behind a family.
"It’s very troubling, a sad situation,” Jackson said.
Related: Airborne truck strikes trees in fiery fatal crash
Officers spoke with Jackson and two other witnesses, who said the van, a gold 1999 Dodge Caravan, ran a stop sign and crashed into Smith's SUV.
Jackson said he first thought the people in the van were getting out to help Smith.
"It didn’t even dawn on me that they were running because I was shell shocked," he said.
About the Author
