The man accused of killing a woman while crashing his vehicle into several others has been charged with murder and 10 counts of aggravated assault, Gwinnett County police said Thursday. And investigators now say the man hit the vehicles on purpose, but they aren’t sure why.
The upgraded charges are in addition to the ones Jacob Nicholson, 22, of Gainesville, was previously charged with in connection to the Jan. 16 string of wrecks in the Norcross area.
Investigators believe Nicholson was driving a Honda Odyssey southbound on Singleton Road at a high rate of speed around 7:30 a.m. when he drove through the Jimmy Carter Boulevard intersection and crashed into six vehicles stopped at the traffic light, Gwinnett police Cpl. Ed Ritter said.
“He ran the red light moving at 80 to a 100 miles an hour,” a witness, Mike Alvarado, previously told Channel 2 Action News.
The driver of a tan Honda Accord, 59-year-old Cynthia Thornton of Norcross, died at the scene of the crash, police said. The driver of another vehicle was treated for minor injuries.
Nicholson was ejected from his van and critically injured in the wreck and remained hospitalized until Thursday at Gwinnett Medical Center, Ritter said. Around 7 p.m., Nicholson was booked into the Gwinnett County jail, where he was being held late Thursday without bond.
After the wreck, Nicholson was charged with first degree vehicular homicide, reckless driving, speeding, driving on the wrong side of the road, no seat belt, and expired driver’s license, according to police.
The investigation into the crashes continues.
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