An Eatonton woman died while driving her vehicle Monday evening, authorities say. No one else was injured.
Martha Ellis, 81, of Flat Rock Road, Putnam County, was traveling north on Flat Rock Road around 6 p.m. Monday, May 17. Putnam County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Russell Blenk said that as Ellis approached the stop sign where Flat Rock Road intersects with Pea Ridge Road, she went straight across the road instead of turning. Her 2001 Dodge Dakota hit an embankment on the other side of Pea Ridge.
“She was traveling at a very slow rate of speed, about 5 mph, so we’re not sure if she stopped at the stop sign or not, but she wasn’t going fast at all,” Blenk explained.
A Greene County deputy was traveling in the area at the time and witnessed the accident. The deputy stopped to check on Ellis; reportedly she had a faint pulse. The deputy called Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and Putnam County EMS. PCSO Deputy Chris Donovan arrived to help, and the EMTs took her by ambulance to Putnam General Hospital, according to Blenk.
“She was not wearing a seatbelt, but that wouldn’t have made a difference because she was going so slow,” he noted. “There was only minor damage to the pickup, so she must have had some kind of medical episode that caused the accident.”
Putnam County Coroner Hollis Harrison, who pronounced her dead at the hospital, confirmed that it appeared Ms. Ellis experienced some type of medical episode which caused her death.