One Dead in Wednesday Accident in NE Ga.

By Buddy Hardigree, WLHR Radio, Lavonia

One person is dead and another is injured after a traffic accident Wednesday morning in northeast Georgia.

According to the Hartwell Post of the Georgia State Patrol, the accident occurred at about 6:20 a.m. on Wednesday on the Georgia Highway 77 Connector near the Lavonia Speedway.

The GSP said a Jeep Cherokee driven by 26-year-old Joshua Erik Duke of Calhoun Falls, South Carolina crossed over the center line and struck a motorcycle driven by 29-year-old William Cody Simpson of Hartwell.

According to the report, both vehicles then left the roadway before coming to a stop.

Authorities said Simpson was pronounced dead at the scene, while Duke was transported to AnMed Hospital for what the GSP described as non-life-threatening injuries.

The GSP said Duke was charged with 2nd Degree Homicide by Motor Vehicle and Failure to Maintain Lane.

Troopers with the GSP’s Hartwell post continue to investigate the accident.