A two-vehicle crash Tuesday in Franklin County claimed the life of a Toccoa man. 78-year-old Johnny Burton Freeman died after crashing into a pickup truck that ran a stop sign, state troopers say.
The fatal crash happened around 3:19 p.m. on Stone Bridge Road at Grady School Road, about 4 miles southwest of Lavonia.
The driver who caused the wreck now faces charges of 2nd-degree vehicular homicide.
According to the preliminary crash report, Robby Douglas McDaniel, 57, of Jefferson, was driving a Ford F-250 east on Grady School Road. He ran the stop sign at the intersection with Stone Bridge and pulled into the path of the northbound Cadillac Deville Freeman was driving.
The Cadillac struck the truck’s front passenger side. After impact, both vehicles traveled off the northeast corner of the intersection into a field. The Cadillac overturned. McDaniel was ejected from the truck.
The Franklin County coroner pronounced Freeman dead at the scene. A 16-year-old front-seat passenger in the car suffered minor injuries, says Georgia State Patrol Sgt. J.R. Dean of Post 52 in Lavonia. Franklin County EMS transported the teen to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville.
Paramedics airlifted McDaniel to Northeast Georgia Medical Center with serious injuries.
In addition to vehicular homicide, Sgt. Dean says McDaniel will also be charged for failing to stop at a stop sign and not wearing his seatbelt.
