Augusta, GA : Driver killed, 9-year-old passenger hurt in McDuffie wreck on Sunday, 4th March 2018

A 44-year-old man was killed and his 9-year-old passenger injured Sunday in a single-vehicle wreck in McDuffie County, according to a report from the Georgia State Patrol.

Shawn Nicholas Rippe, of Grovetown and the driver of a 2001 Ford Expedition, was pronounced dead at the scene from blunt force head trauma by Deputy Coroner Paul Johnson. Rippe’s passenger, 9-year-old Jaden Hartley, of Harlem, was taken to Doctors Hospital with minor injuries, according to the report.

Rippe was negotiating a curve while traveling eastbound on Wire Road, just east of Old Milledgeville Road, when he lost control and ran off the south shoulder of the road, according to the report. The Expedition traveled on the shoulder for about 158 feet, r-eentered Wire Road and cut across all lanes of the road, running off the north shoulder.

There, it hit a traffic sign, crossed Wire Road again, ran off the south shoulder and overturned, according to the report.

Both the driver and passenger were wearing seatbelts and the vehicle’s airbags deployed, according to the report, which noted that “alcohol use is suspected.”

Source :
Driver killed, 9-year-old passenger hurt in McDuffie wreck