The Georgia State Patrol has charged a Commerce man with first-degree homicide by vehicle, three counts of serious injury by vehicle, possession of drugs, and other charges after a recent wreck in Habersham County.
Joseph Lee Austin, 43, whose address initially was given as Toccoa, was arrested July 2 and booked at the Habersham County jail.
Austin was driving a 2006 Ford Mustang that was traveling south on Ga. 17 Alternate (Talmadge Drive) at Arlo Todd Road on June 15 and failed to maintain its lane, traveling into the northbound lane and striking a Toyota Tacoma double cab pickup truck head-on, according to GSP.
Austin’s rear-seat passenger, 77-year-old Jimmy McDonald of Clarkesville, suffered serious, life-threatening injuries and died later at Northeast Georgia Medical Center.
Austin’s front passenger, 20-year-old John Michael Lumpkin of Clarkesville, suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Virginia Allen Ramey, 72, of Toccoa, who was driving the 2016 Toyota Tacoma, suffered serious, non-life-threatening injuries, according to GSP.
Austin also is charged with defective tires, driving on the wrong side of an undivided street, possession of less than one ounce of marijuana, possession of a controlled substance, possession of methamphetamine, and reckless driving, Habersham County Detention Center records show.
Bond is set at $92,950.
