Second person to be charged with vehicular homicide for fatal Murray County crash, according to DA

Published 1:00 pm Monday, June 14, 2021

A second person will be charged with first-degree vehicular homicide after a wreck early Wednesday morning on Mill Creek Road in Murray County that resulted in the death of a 19-year-old woman, according to District Attorney Bert Poston.

Seth Nathaniel Mathis, 19, of 130 Dewberry Church Road, Chatsworth, has been charged by the Georgia State Patrol with failure to report an accident resulting in injury or death, DUI, reckless driving, open container violation, driving without insurance, furnishing alcohol to a minor, misdemeanor willful obstruction of law enforcement, false statement or writing, improper lane change and a seatbelt violation, according to a Murray County jail employee.

Poston said the vehicular homicide charge was left off the list of charges in error and will be added today. He said Mathis will likely have a bond hearing Wednesday and the investigation continues.

According to a Georgia State Patrol motor vehicle crash report, around 4:15 a.m. on Wednesday a 2011 Ford F-150 was traveling west on Mill Creek Road. The driver, identified as Mathis in the report, “was negotiating a left curve when he lost control” and the vehicle “left the roadway off the north shoulder and traveled down an embankment before striking two trees, with the passenger side …” “The right rear passenger was partially ejected …”

That passenger, Emmerie Grace Kilpatrick, 19, of Chatsworth, suffered fatal injuries.

The vehicle “came to rest facing west off the north shoulder of Mill Creek Road. The area of impact was off the north shoulder of Mill Creek Road and was determined by tire tracks on the roadway, tire tracks down the embankment, marks on the tree and (the vehicle’s) final rest.”

The report said the exact time of the crash isn’t known because “the occupants did not have cell service and stated that they did not know what time the crash occurred. The first phone call for help was made at 4:28 after they walked to get cellphone service.”

Whitney Danielle Thomas, 17, of Chatsworth, was charged Wednesday by the Georgia State Patrol with first-degree vehicular homicide, DUI (less safe), furnishing/purchasing of alcoholic beverages by persons below legal age, improper lane change/failure to maintain lane, driving without insurance and a seat belts violation. She was released from jail on a $5,000 bond with conditions.

Poston said no charges against Thomas have been dropped.

Asked how two people can be charged with vehicular homicide and DUI for the same crash, Poston said, “I would have to discuss the evidence as it has evolved over the last few days to explain that. And I can’t discuss the evidence in a pending case.”