Brother, sister killed on way to school in Rockdale

"He was taking his sister to school," family friend Carl Wust told the AJC. "It was one of the things he did every morning."

The accident happened around 7:30 a.m. on McDaniel Mill Road, about two miles from the Anschutz's home near Conyers. The two were headed to General Ray Davis Middle School when Karl Anschutz apparently lost control of the car and crossed into the path of an oncoming pickup truck.

"He ran off the road and over-corrected," Shupe said.

The driver of the pickup truck was transported to Atlanta Medical Center and later released.

The exact cause of the accident is under investigation, Shupe said. The teen driver's cell phone was found in his back pocket and police do not believe weather was a factor.

Friends and family gathered at the family's home Thursday afternoon to remember the siblings, who were very close, Wust said. The two were the only children of John and Terri Anschutz.

Karl Anschutz, an AP scholar, played trumpet in the marching, symphonic and jazz bands, his parents told the AJC in an e-mail. Karl had recently been accepted to Georgia Tech, where he planned to study mechanical engineering. He was planning to spend his summer as the archery director for a Boy Scout camp.

“He was very active in everything he did, and Laura was the same way," Wust said.

Laura Anschutz played alto saxophone in the middle school band. She would have turned 14 on April 24.

"Laura was caring and loving, trying to excel in all she did and dragging everyone around her with her," John and Terri Anschutz said.

Laura was an honor student who had won the county science fair the past three years. She had perfect attendance at school for the past seven years, her parents said.

Crisis teams and grief counselors will be at the schools on Friday, according to Cindy Ball, spokeswoman for the Rockdale school district.

Funeral arrangements have not been announced.