TRAFFIC FATALITY
Tragedy struck a Jones County family in a fatal vehicle accident that took the life of one and sent two others to the hospital with serious injuries.
The accident was reported at 3:30 p.m., Nov. 18, at the intersection of Greene Settlement Road and the Gray bypass. Katherine Jackson, 67, was pronounced deceased at the scene of the accident by Jones County Coroner Matt Jarratt.
The coroner said the cause of death was multiple blunt force injuries received in the accident.
The 17-year-old driver and 15-year-old passenger in the car were both transported to the hospital for treatment. Jarratt said he has since received information that the driver and passenger remain hospitalized but are reportedly in stable condition.
The driver of the other vehicle involved in the accident, Marcus Starks, of Hartwell, was also taken to the hospital for treatment.
The accident report by Jones County Sheriff Office Deputy Thomas Sullivan stated that he arrived at the accident scene at 3:35 p.m. He said the Jacksons were in a 2013 Dodge Avenger. The officer said he was not able to get a statement from anyone in that vehicle.
Starks was driving a 2019 Freightliner. His statement was the Dodge Avenger pulled up to the stop sign at the intersection and then continued to pull out in front of him.
Sullivan said the physical evidence at the scene shows that the Freightliner was traveling North on the Gray Bypass as the Dodge that had been traveling west on Greene Settlement Road was stopped at the stop sign. The report states the car failed to yield and pulled out in front of the truck, causing a crash.
The officer said video evidence of the crash supported the physical evidence and the truck driver’s statement. He said a JCSO fatality investigator was called to the scene.
