Metro Atlanta
Metro Atlanta

Man dies after head-on collision with detached trailer on I-20 in Covington

A South Carolina man was killed on I-20 after his truck was hit head-on by a trailer that detached on the opposite side of the interstate.
A South Carolina man was killed on I-20 after his truck was hit head-on by a trailer that detached on the opposite side of the interstate.
By Henri Hollis
July 6, 2020

A South Carolina man died Saturday in Newton County when a loose trailer crossed the median of I-20 and collided head-on with his truck.

Gillis Wilson, a 52-year-old from Sumter, S.C., died after the collision about 9:30 a.m. in Covington.

The 16-foot trailer was being pulled by William Evans, 71, of Rutledge, said Caitlin Jett, the communications officer for the Newton County Sheriff’s Office.

Evans was driving west on I-20, towing the trailer behind a 2018 Ford F-350 pickup truck, Jett said.

As the truck and trailer passed over double bridges near Ga. 142, the trailer destabilized and began to swerve back and forth. It then broke free from the truck and went across the grass median separating I-20, going airborne before striking Wilson’s Volvo Tractor, a long-haul truck.

Wilson was taken to a hospital, where he was declared dead. No citations were issued at the time of the accident.

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