PUBLIC SAFETY
Deaths from traffic accidents for 2023 in Jones County totaled four, which resulted from three serious accidents.
A crash analysis report from the Jones County Sheriff’s Office states that the total number of accidents for the year was 525 with 110 of them reporting injuries. The report breaks the day of the week with most reported accidents, which was Monday, and the top contributing factor listed for the accidents was failure to yield.
The hours between 6 p.m. and midnight are when the most accidents occur.
This year’s fatalities occurred in different areas around the county with the first on Eatonton Highway, the second on Round Oak-Juliette Road and the last fatality that took two lives on Gray Highway.
The total number of Jones County fatalities in 2022 was five.
Cromer fatality
A 19-year-old was killed after apparently losing control in a curve Eatonton Highway Jan. 7, just after midnight.
Jones County Sheriff’s Office Fatality Investigator Capt. Kenny Allen stated in Jan. 12 interview that Coby James Cromer was pronounced deceased at the scene of the accident by Deputy Coroner Stacey Gardner. The accident was the first traffic fatality of Jones County for 2023.
The report of the Jan. 7 accident by JCSO Deputy Zachary Allen estimated the time it occurred at 12:24 a.m. The report narrative states that the 2000 Ford Focus driven by Cromer was traveling southbound on State Route 44 when it appeared to leave the right side of the roadway, over-corrected and came back onto the road entering the oncoming lane of traffic.
The Focus was then struck in the right passenger area by a 2014 Ford F-250, driven by a 20-year-old South Carolina man. The impact pushed both vehicles off the roadway and into a ditch.
The driver of the pickup told Allen that he was traveling northbound when he saw the Focus enter his lane of travel sideways.
The captain was called to the scene to investigate the accident. He said the evidence at the scene supported the report of the accident. Allen said the driver of the pickup was transported to the trauma center to be checked out and was treated and released.
Hart fatality
The body of a Forsyth man was discovered at an accident scene Aug. 5 with the use of an Apple Air Tag by a family member. The deceased was identified as Jonathan Wayne Hart, who was 39 years of age.
A report of the accident by Jones County Deputy Jeffery Roberson estimated the time of the accident at 6:45 p.m. He said the 2006 Ford F-150 driven by Hart was traveling east on Round Oak-Juliette Road, coming into a curve, but continued straight.
The vehicle left the roadway, entered a dry creek bed and struck a tree, causing it to overturn onto its roof. Roberson said, when he arrived at the scene, Deputy Steven Astyk, who was also dispatched to the scene, informed him the driver was deceased.
Robinson said he called the coroner to the scene.
The deputy said he spoke to the complainant, who reported the accident and was told Hart had been missing from Bibb County since July 31. The father of the deceased had the Apple Air Tag and asked the complainant to check the area for Hart and his vehicle.
At the conclusion of the deputy’s investigation of the accident, Robinson said he used crush measurements and noted the vehicle was traveling approximately 42 mph when it made impact with the tree. He said the impact with the vehicle overturning was a direct result of Hart’s death.
Kennedy and Wallace fatalities
A mother and daughter from Wilcox County lost their lives crossing Gray Highway Dec. 5. The deceased are listed as Rhonda Lynn Kennedy, 59, and Hazel Wallace, 75, both from Pitts. The accident happened just before 6 p.m. at the intersection of Homer Roberts Road and Gray Highway.
According to a report of the accident by Jones County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chris Shurley, the Kia driven by Kennedy was stopped at the stop sign on Homer Roberts Road while the Freightliner log truck was traveling northbound on Gray Highway toward Gray.
The deputy said the Kia entered the highway in the path of the truck that was traveling in the left lane. He said impact was made in the left-hand lane, and both vehicles came to rest in the median and turning lane on the southbound side of the four-lane highway.
Shurley said the driver of the truck told him he tried to avoid the collision by locking up his brakes. He said the Kia never stopped, and they collided.
A witness to the accident, who was behind the truck, told the deputy that the truck driver made every attempt to avoid striking the car, but there was nothing he could do.
Deputy Coroner Stacy Gardner said both victims died of multiple blunt force trauma and were pronounced deceased at the scene.
Statistics from the JCSO show there have been 11 accidents at that intersection over the last two years, with five of them involving two vehicles. The other nine were one-car accidents or collisions with wildlife.
The last fatality that occurred at the intersection was in May of 2019.
