The Habersham Central High School student who was critically injured in a fatal automobile accident on February 24 has been arrested and charged in connection with that accident.
Hadden Carswell, 17, turned himself in to the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office on Friday, July 10, according to jail records. Officials charged him with failure to maintain lane and second-degree vehicular homicide in the death of Hayward Cochran, Jr., age 65. Both charges are misdemeanors. Carswell was released from custody on his own recognizance. The case against him is pending in State Court.
Second-degree vehicular homicide is punishable in Georgia by up to one year in jail and a maximum $1,000 fine.
Cochran, who owned a cleaning service in Toccoa, was killed when Carswell’s Jeep hit his van head-on after crossing over the double-yellow line on GA-17 Alternate/Talmadge Road, according to the Georgia State Patrol. After impact, Cochran’s vehicle ran down an embankment and overturned. He died instantly, the county coroner said.
The State Patrol’s Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team (SCRT) investigated the accident.
Carswell, whose mother is Mountain Judicial Circuit Juvenile Court Judge Nichole Carswell, spent three months in the hospital recovering from his injuries. He returned home on May 22, 2020, after being released from the Shepherd Center in Atlanta.
The rising Habersham Central High senior is a member of the Raider baseball and football teams. Many of his teammates participated in a drive-by parade at Raider Stadium in May to welcome him home.
