Five people were killed instantly in a head-on collision Tuesday morning, including an infant and a toddler.
Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills identified the victims as Mayla Dostie, 44; Hailey Brook Hayes, 22; Zaleigh Adaya Brooks, 23; Bentley Barlow, 3; and Tucker Hudspeth, 8 months old.
No one survived the two-vehicle crash, which happened around 12:45 a.m. Aug. 1 on U.S. 441 near the Big Boys Toys business about a mile-and-a-half from the Putnam-Baldwin county line.
>>CLICK HERE FOR A GOFUNDME ACCOUNT SET UP FOR THE FAMILY
Sills said Hayes was driving a 2018 Honda Civic, traveling south in the northbound lane of the highway.
“It appeared she had been going the wrong way for some time,” he said.
Describing the grass in the median as “pretty high,” Sills said there were no marks in the grass anywhere to suggest Hayes had crossed the median. Noting that Hayes lived on Oconee Springs Road, he said, “So we speculate she turned off of Pea Ridge Road and turned left onto 441 in the northbound lane instead of the southbound lane.”
Hayes’ Honda struck a 2005 Nissan Xterra head-on. The Nissan was driven by Dostie, who was on her way home from work at the Qarbon Aerospace plant in Milledgeville.
Hayes’ two children and Brooks were in the Honda with her. The Honda reportedly burst into flames upon impact, and both drivers and all passengers had already perished when emergency responders arrived on the scene, Sills said. He noted that the infant was the grandchild of one of his lawmen, Deputy Todd Hudspeth.
Putnam County Coroner Hollis Harrison said he believed all five victims died of blunt force trauma, but the bodies of the four in the Honda were being sent to the GBI Crime Lab for autopsy.