Authorities confirmed Thursday that a 16-year-old was the driver who crossed the center line and caused a head-on crash that killed five people in a van in Newton County nearly two weeks ago.
The teenager, whose name was not released, remains in critical condition at Grady Memorial Hospital. The names of those killed in the April 8 crash were released Thursday and include four people who lived in the same home, according to the incident report.
Killed in the crash were Alicia Eisenmann, 55, Darin Quattlebaum, 58, Kelly Pike, 55, and Peggy Wynn, 68, all of Newborn, and Makayla Taylor, 26, of Athens, the sheriff’s office said.
According to an online obituary for Quattlebaum, the older adults lived in a group home.
“Over the years Darin developed many friends at his living facility,” his obituary states. “He became very good friends with Peggy. Darin would hold her hand and act as her caretaker. Also, he had developed a special relationship with his caretakers.”
In a Facebook post, South Carolina pastor Malcolm Taylor said his daughter, Makayla, had been driving the four to get medical treatment at the time of the crash.
The crash occurred on Ga. 142 at Adams Circle shortly before 4 p.m., according to the Newton sheriff’s office and the Georgia Department of Transportation. Investigators believe the teen’s truck crossed the center line and struck the van.
Jason Nichols, a GDOT spokesperson in the agency’s east central region, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution later that day that it was raining in the area at the time of the crash. It was not known if wet roads were a factor.
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