Before he throws the first pitch Saturday, college baseball player Josh Smith has already dedicated the game to his friend since kindergarten, William Barton. Barton, 19, was killed Friday when he was hit by a minivan that plunged inside a Cobb County restaurant.
“Somebody like that deserves to be recognized,” Smith told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I’m going to make sure of that.”
The two weren’t just classmates, but almost like family, Smith said late Friday. Their families vacationed together and their siblings are friends, Smith said. Both grew up in McDonough.
Barton, a student at Kennesaw State University, was the kind of friend you could trust to be there when it mattered the most, Smith said. And though Smith plays baseball while attending South Georgia State College, the two friends made time to catch up when they could, Smith said.
“We’d hang out, maybe go get something to eat,” Smith said.
Barton was with another friend Friday afternoon at Buffalo Wild Wings on Barrett Parkway when an unimaginable tragedy struck. The driver of a minivan was attempting to park when for unknown reasons, she drove up on the sidewalk and crashed through the front of the restaurant, according to police. Barton was run over, according to witnesses who rushed to his side before police officers and firefighters arrived.
But his injuries were too severe. Barton died while being transported to WellStar Kennestone Hospital.
“I just bawled,” Smith said. “I never thought it could happen to someone so close to me.”
It was the kind of wreck that could have happened anywhere, and in an instant, it ended a life.
“That could’ve happened to me,” Smith said. “I was just eating at a restaurant.”
In addition to his parents, Barton is survived by a younger brother and sister, Smith said.
Investigators had not determined late Friday what caused the driver of the van, Carol Shipley, 67, of Woodstock, to crash into the restaurant. But charges are expected to be filed, Officer Mike Bowman with Cobb police said.
A restaurant employee was also injured, but her injuries were non-life threatening, according to police.
Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call police at 770-499-3987.
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