Paulding County Man Killed in I-85 Wreck

A Paulding County man is dead after a wreck Monday morning on I-85 in Franklin County. 

According the Georgia State Patrol Hartwell Post Sgt. J. R. Dean, it happened about 6:45a Monday morning near mile marker 172 .

Sgt. Dean said a 2002 Ford Expedition driven by 19-year old James Allen Hardin, of Hiram, Georgia, was traveling northbound on Interstate 85 in the left lane when for an unknown reason, the Expedition traveled off the west shoulder and into the median, where it struck the cable barrier.  

The Expedition then traveled back into the northbound lanes of Interstate 85 and began to overturn.  

Dean said Hardin was subsequently ejected and came to an uncontrolled final rest near the overturned Expedition on the west shoulder of the northbound lanes of Interstate 85. 

He was pronounced deceased at the crash scene and his body was transported to the Franklin County Coroner’s Office. 

Dean said no autopsy will be performed.

The family of the deceased has been notified.

He says neither drugs nor alcohol are suspected, and it’s not known what caused Hardin to run off the Interstate.

The northbound lanes of Interstate 85 were closed for approximately 1.5 hours to conduct the crash investigation and remove the extensive amount of roadway debris.