Two Crashes on I-85 This Week Leave Three With Serious Injuries

Three people have been injured and two of those were hospitalized after the vehicle they were in crashed and overturned on I-85 SB in Franklin County Thursday.

According to GSP Hartwell Post 52 Trooper Sgt. Ray Dean, it happened at approximately 2:41 am Thursday when Post 52 Troopers responded to a single-vehicle accident on Interstate 85 Southbound near mile marker 162.

“The preliminary crash investigation revealed that a 2024 Toyota Sequoia was traveling southbound on Interstate 85 when it partially exited the east shoulder,” he said. “The Sequoia re-entered the roadway and began to rotate counterclockwise before overturning multiple times. The Sequoia struck the cable barrier on the east shoulder of the roadway before coming to an uncontrolled final rest in the median, facing northbound.”

The driver of the Sequoia, identified as 35-year-old Ja Nai Sharde-Marie Keller of Loganville suffered serious injuries and was taken by ambulance to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville.

A 16-year-old passenger in the vehicle was air-lifted to the Gainesville campus of the Northeast Georgia Medical Center with serious injuries.

A third passenger, 42-year-old Andre Jarod Nelson of Baltimore suffered non-life-threatening injuries but was also taken to the Northeast Georgia Medical Center.

Sgt. Dean said the crash remains under investigation at this time.

This was the second single-vehicle crash on 85 in Franklin County this week.

Dean said driving impaired is the suspected cause of a crash Tuesday night, on Interstate 85 Southbound near mile marker 160.

In that incident, the preliminary crash investigation revealed a white 2008 Honda Civic was traveling southbound on Interstate 85 when the driver failed to maintain his proper lane and traveled off the east shoulder.

“The driver of the Civic overcorrected and the Civic began to rotate clockwise off the west shoulder of Interstate 85. The Civic overturned multiple times and came to a final uncontrolled rest, facing northbound, off the west shoulder of Interstate 85,” Dean said.

The driver, identified as 32-year-old Larry Andrew Evans of Buford, GA suffered serious injuries and was taken by EMS to the Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville.

Sgt. Dean said Evans would be charged with various traffic charges, including Driving Under the Influence.