The wreck happened around 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24, on GA-17 Alternate/Talmadge Drive near the Habersham/Stephens County line. (Daniel Purcell/Now Habersham)
The Georgia State Patrol has released its preliminary investigation into a fatal accident Monday night in Habersham County.
According to the State Patrol, 17-year-old Hadden Carswell was traveling south on GA-17-Alternate/Talmadge Drive in a 2009 Jeep Wrangler. He was south of Glore Road when he crossed the double-yellow center line and struck a Ford Econoline van driven by 65-year-old Hayward Cochran, Jr., of Toccoa.
The Jeep hit the driver’s side of the van. The van ran off the road and overturned while traveling down an embankment. It landed upside down. The Jeep rotated counterclockwise while traveling off the west shoulder of the roadway.
Habersham County Coroner Kasey McEntire says Cochran was killed instantly. Cochran, who owned Cochran Cleaning Service in Toccoa and was a deacon at Crossroads Baptist Church, was pronounced dead at the scene.
His body was taken to the GBI Medical Examiner’s Office in Decatur for further examination, according to McEntire.
Habersham EMS transported Carswell to Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) in Gainesville where he underwent emergency surgery. As of early Tuesday, he was listed in stable but critical condition.
Bad weather conditions
The accident happened shortly after 6 p.m. Monday, Feb.24. It was rainy and foggy at the time of the crash but the State Patrol says that wasn’t a factor. “The evidence does not show the weather to have been a contributing factor to this crash,” says Trooper Trent Kirchhefer of Patrol Post 7 in Toccoa.
A nearby resident says he was inside his house when he heard a “big boom” and an engine rev. At first, he thought it was thunder but then he heard sirens. He says, “that’s when I knew it wasn’t thunder.”
First responders found both drivers trapped inside their vehicles with fuel leaking. They were still trying to extricate them when Cochran was pronounced dead.
The wreck shut down Talmadge Drive near the Habersham/Stephens County line for more than three hours Monday night.
Close to home
Carswell is the son of Mountain Judicial Circuit Juvenile Court Judge Nichole Carswell and Chris Carswell. News of his accident tragically strikes close to home in Habersham. Carswell is the fourth HCHS student to be involved in a serious automobile accident in the past three months.
On Nov. 20, 2019, three HCHS students were involved in a fatal crash on Camp Creek Road in Cornelia while on their way to school. HCHS senior Carlos Morales of Baldwin died as a result of that accident.
The Georgia State Patrol’s Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team (SCRT) is investigating the cause of Monday night’s fatal crash. The State Patrol says charges are pending.
A community-wide prayer vigil was held for Carswell and Cochran’s family Tuesday night in Demorest.
This article is updated with additional information from the Georgia State Patrol
