Two people lost their lives in Newton County over the holiday weekend, according to Newton County Sheriff's Office 1st Lt. Mark Mitchell.
Both accidents occurred early July 5. The first accident happened just before 3 a.m. Deputies from the NCSO responded to a call of a vehicle accident with a possible fatality on Access Road at Old Oxford. When they arrived they found that a Pontiac Grand Prix and a motorcycle had collided. The driver of the motorcycle, 45-year-old David J. Nunnelley of Oxford, was pronounced dead on the scene.The second accident occurred around 5:30 a.m. on Interstate 20 west at the U.S. Highway 278 exit on the Newton/Walton County line. Deputies arrived to find a Ford F-150 and a Dodge van had collided on the westbound side of the interstate and both vehicles had overturned. The occupant of the Ford F-150 was identified as 78-year-old John Wilson of South Carolina.
Troopers from the Georgia State Patrol are working both fatalities and the investigation into both accidents is ongoing and charges are pending. The results of toxicology tests have not been returned.
According to a press release from the Georgia State Patrol, there were 2,490 crashes, 682 injuries and 20 deaths in the state over the holiday weekend, which began at 6 p.m. July 3 and lasted through midnight July 5. In 2008 there were fewer crashes reported (1,860), but more injuries (910) and deaths (22) during that same time period.
