A Newton County man has been charged with vehicular homicide after striking and killing a 6-year-old girl as she was stepping off a MARTA bus Tuesday.

Gregory Armwood, 44, was driving an SUV and when the MARTA bus stopped he swerved around it, crossing a double yellow line on the wrong side of the road, and striking Sukmaya Mager, who had just relocated with her family to Georgia from Nepal approximately two weeks prior.

According to Clarkston Police Chief Tony Scipio, Armwood seemed shocked that he had struck the child. But state records indicate Armwood has had a number of traffic violations, including DUI, failing to stop at red lights and stop signs and speeding excessively.

Armwood turned himself in at the DeKalb County Jail Thursday on charges of second degree vehicular homicide and failure to exercise due care – both of which are misdemeanor charges. He was released on $1,000 bond that day, the same day that Sukmaya Mager was to be cremated.