Survivor of two-car, double-fatality crash recovering

Published 9:13 pm Thursday, October 24, 2019

The Georgia State Patrol has concluded its investigation into a fatal wreck that claimed the lives of a 72-year-old Dalton resident and a 17-year-old Adairsville High School student.

Samuel Jefferson “Jeff” Davis is to be laid to rest on Saturday in Dalton, where he had moved in 1980. His wife, Mary, is still struggling to recover from the Oct. 17 crash that happened at around 9:30 p.m. on Hall Station Road in Bartow County.

Mary Davis was listed in critical condition on Wednesday at Erlanger hospital in Chattanooga, a hospital spokeswoman said. Her sister, Jeanette Lermon, said Mary Davis suffered broken bones and other injuries.

“She is beginning to recover,” Lermon said. “Now, she faces a long recovery and rehabilitation. We’re pulling together. It is just a tragic accident.”

Lermon said the couple had been married 49 years.

Jeff Davis is survived by two sons, Jefferson and Jonathan, according to his obituary. He had been an agent for Northwestern Mutual Life for almost 50 years.

“He and Mary have a huge group of friends and family,” Lermon said. “Jeff will be tremendously missed by everyone who knew him.”

The couple was reportedly headed home from a Northwestern Mutual insurance event at Barnsley Gardens when their Nissan Rogue was hit by a Chevrolet Tahoe driven by Jordan Towns, 17, of Adairsville. The funeral for the high school senior was held Tuesday.

On Wednesday, GSP Trooper Jonathon Mason said the investigation into the wreck was closed.

Mason said Towns was southbound on Hall Station Road when his Tahoe ran off the side of the road. He over-corrected and went into the northbound lane, striking the Davises’ Rogue head-on.

“There was nothing immediately apparent in the vehicle to determine why he ran off the road,” Mason noted. “It could have been any of a hundred different reasons.”

Towns was alone in his vehicle; Mary Davis was driving the Rogue and Jeff Davis was her only passenger.

Daily Citizen-News staff writer Chris Whitfield contributed to this report.