Teen indicted in alleged DUI crash that killed friend

Cameron Childers

Cameron Childers

A Cherokee County teenager accused of killing his friend in a DUI crash was indicted Tuesday.

Cameron Childers drove off Hightower Road and down an embankment and into a tree June 19 of last year, breaking his arm and leaving his friend and passenger, 16-year-old Mahlon Thornton, fatally injured, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.

After a toxicology report showed the presence of drugs in Childers’ system at the time of the crash, the 17-year-old was jailed in October on charges of vehicular manslaughter, driving under the influence of drugs, reckless driving, weaving over the roadway and speeding.

Mahlon Thornton (Credit: Channel 2 Action News)

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According to a Cherokee County sheriff’s crash report, the car was traveling 73 mph upon impact with the tree.

Thornton’s parents, however, aren’t angry.

“I absolutely, 100 percent forgive him,” Jenelle Thornton, Mahlon’s mother, said of Childers.

“Mahlon’s life is gone, we can’t bring him back. Don’t let Cameron’s life be ruined any more than it already is.”

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