A Gainesville man is back in jail after a passenger in the vehicle he crashed into died from her injuries.
According to the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, 33-year-old Joshua Castaneda was charged with first-degree vehicular homicide after 82-year-old Frankie Smith Shoemake died on Monday.
She was a passenger in a 2003 Chrysler PT Cruiser driven by 61-year-old George Turpin of Gainesville. The Hall County Sheriff’s Office said Turpin was traveling north on McEver Road when Castaneda, who was driving a 2008 GMC Yukon south on McEver Road, turned left onto Gould Drive and into the path of Turpin’s vehicle.
The vehicles collided broadside, and Castaneda fled on foot from the accident scene, according to the sheriff’s office.
Hall County Fire Rescue transported Turpin and Shoemake to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville. Turpin suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries, the sheriff’s office said. Shoemake was hospitalized since the October 30 accident until her death on Monday morning.
Castaneda surrendered himself to the Hall County Jail on the morning of Oct. 31. He was initially cited for unlicensed driving, failing to yield to a turning vehicle, and leaving the scene of an accident (hit and run). He posted a $2,930 bond and was released.
Following Shoemake’s death, the Hall County Sheriff’s Office Accident Investigation Unit took Castaneda into custody at his home on Gould Drive on Monday afternoon. He is being held without bond.
SEE ALSO
Cleveland man faces homicide charge from wreck that killed retired White County fire captain
