Eight dead in seven overnight wrecks in metro Atlanta

Eight people were killed in seven separate wrecks across metro Atlanta Friday night and Saturday morning. A ninth metro motorist, a teen from Paulding County, died in a wreck late Friday afternoon in northwest Georgia, authorities said.
Four of those killed were on motorcycles, according to police.
The first of the wrecks happened about 10:20 p.m. Friday on Cobb Parkway in Marietta.
Marietta police spokesman Officer David Auld said Shawn Head was operating a 2002 Kawasaki ZK9 southbound when he lost control of the bike and left the roadway near the intersection with Polytechnic Lane.
Head, 46, of Winston, was taken to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Auld said.
No other vehicles were involved, according to Auld.
About the same time as the fatal motorcycle wreck in Marietta, one child was killed and several others injured when a sport utilily vehicle overturned on I-20 at the exit to Ga. 92 in Douglasville, according to Channel 2 Action News.
Several of those injured were airlifted from the scene.
Douglasville police told Channel 2 that a 7-year-old boy was killed, and that two girls, ages 6 and 13, were in critical condition at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston. A third girl, age 15, was in good condition at Egleston, and a 13-year-old girl was in critical condition at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite.
The woman driving the SUV was taken to Atlanta Medical Center with minor injuries, police told Channel 2.
“It appeared they may have missed their exit and tried to correct by cutting across the median and lost control of the vehicle,” Douglasville police Deputy Chief Gary Sparks told the station.
Douglas County Coroner Randy Daniel identified the child killed as Jamaul Lewis of Douglasville. The identities of those injured have not been released.
Shortly before midnight, three motorcycles and two cars were involved in a crash on I-285 southbound between Camp Creek Parkway and Washington Road, according to the Georgia State Patrol. Two of the motorcyclists were killed, and the third was injured, State Patrol spokesman Gordy Wright said.