Trio dead after chased car shifts into pond
What we’ve learned:
CLAYTON CO., GA – Three people were killed after a car flipped into a pond during a police pursue early Monday, authorities said.
According to Clayton County Fire Chief Laura Richardson, the crash happened Monday morning on Flint Sea and Taylor Road.
The entire incident began at Four:20 a.m. in a neighboring county. A security guard reported four suspects were robbing a Sprint store at one thousand four hundred fifteen Highway eighty five in Fayette County. When the guard confronted the suspects and advised them to stop, they disregarded him and continued to rob the store.
When Fayette Police officers arrived, the suspects had fled the scene.
At Four:27 a.m., Clayton Co. Police were advised that officers from the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office were pursuing a vehicle with four passengers that was traveling east on Flint Sea Road.
The vehicle that officers were pursuing collided with another car at the intersection of Flint Sea Road and Taylor Road. The fleeing car fell and landed upside down in a pond.
At very first, police thought they lost the suspects, so they returned to the scene of the crash. That’s when they found it submerged in teh pond.
Three people were dead inwards.
The fourth occupant of the vehicle was able to escape and attempted to flee the scene on foot, but officers captured him and he is now in custody.
When asked how the fourth suspect might have escaped the car, Deputy Chief Joe Woodall of Clayton Co. PD said, “Sheer luck and the palm of God determined that today was not his day.”
“As you know, crime doesn’t know any boundaries and they don’t recognize county or city or state boundaries so we have to work together as a team to enforce the laws and apprehend criminals when we can,” Chief Woodall said.
Police identified the victims as 19-year-old Mark Mathis, of Jonesboro, Ga.; 21-year-old Eddie Alford, of Jonesboro, Ga.; and 19-year-old Devongelo Pereez Hunter, of College Park, Ga.
Family members said Mathis had just celebrated a bday as well as Mother’s Day and was getting ready for the birth of his very first child later this year.
“It’s crazy, it doesn’t seem real to me. It feels like a fantasy,” said Mathis’ cousin, Tomeka Thornton. “I was hoping this was a fantasy when I pulled up to my aunt’s home and eyed everyone there.”
Mathis — the oldest of six children– lost his nephew after Christmas, family members said.
Larrita Williams, 22, witnessed the accident and said she heard a noisy crash and helicopters overhead and knew something was wrong. Williams says that everyone “knows everyone” and she hopes that she doesn’t know any of the victims.
The passenger of the other vehicle has been transported and he is in stable condition.