Funeral services will be held Friday for the 26-year-old Demorest man who died from injuries he suffered in a wreck on Interstate 985. Chris Baker was fatally injured when his car rear-ended a tractor-trailer on September 9, according to the Georgia State Patrol.
The accident happened around 9 p.m. approximately one mile south of Exit 12 at Spout Springs Road in Hall County.
Corporal Major Patterson with State Patrol Post 6 in Gainesville says Baker was driving a 2015 Toyota Prius. He was traveling northbound in the left-hand lane behind a 2018 Freightliner Tractor-Trailer owned by Performance Food Group in Oakwood.
“Due to a closure of the right northbound lane, traffic had slowed and was very heavy,” Cpl. Patterson says.
As the two vehicles approached a Georgia Department of Transportation work zone the tractor-trailer came to a stop. For unknown reasons, Patterson says, Baker’s vehicle failed to stop. The Prius traveled partially under the rear of the trailer and caught on fire.
The driver of the truck, 44-year-old Donnie Wilson of Columbus, Georgia, was able to extinguish the fire with his fire extinguisher.
“Two motorists who identified themselves as off-duty medical personnel stopped and rendered aid to Mr. Baker,” Cpl. Patterson says. Hall County Fire/EMS transported Baker to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville where he later died.
Wilson was not injured in the accident.
The State Patrol says drugs and alcohol are not suspected to be factors in the crash and no charges will be filed.
Chris Baker graduated from Habersham Central High School in 2011 and worked at 12 Stone Church in Gwinnett County.
He is survived by his wife, Brooklyn Waldrip Baker of Demorest, and by his parents, Alan and Angelia Baker of Demorest and Kelly Shelton and Phillip Reagin of Lookout, Mountain.
Funeral services are scheduled for 2 pm, Friday, September 13, 2019, at The Torch Worship Center in Demorest.
A GoFund Me account has been set up to help Baker’s wife. To donate, click here.
