A Stockbridge teen died in a head-on collision Saturday in Putnam County, and officials suspect the underage driver may have been under the influence of alcohol.
“The debris field was replete with alcohol containers,” Sheriff Howard Sills told The Macon Telegraph. “I have reason to believe she [the driver] was under the influence.”
The underage driver had two passengers in her vehicle. In the backseat, 18-year-old Rachel Wall was not wearing a seat belt. She was ejected from the 2003 Nissan Altima and died at the scene.
The other passenger in the vehicle did not require treatment, according to the sheriff.
Sills said the driver of the other vehicle, 16-year-old Christian James Batchelor of Eatonton, was not drinking. He and his passenger sustained only minor injuries.
The underage driver was taken to Oconee Regional Medical Center in Milledgeville but was not seriously injured.
According to Sills, the driver refused a breathalyzer test. The sheriff obtained a search warrant for a blood sample, and results are pending. Sills says the results could take months to get back to his office.
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