July Fourth wreck investigated near Cumming Georgia

Officials are investigating a July Fourth accident in which a Jeep carrying five unbuckled teenagers flipped on a dirt road in northwestern Hall County, tossing several passengers and killing two.Georgia State Patrol officials said 16-year-old Christian J. Walker of Cumming and Brandon Jay Hodges, 14, of Lawrenceville were killed in the incident, which occurred about 2 p.m. Monday.Tony James Delong, 19, of Gainesville was driving when the Jeep left Whelchel Mill Road in a curve, according to the state patrol.

The vehicle hit an embankment and overturned several times. No one was wearing a seat belt and several passengers were thrown out.Delong and two other teens, Jacob Lord, 15, and Kayla Parker, 18, both of Dawsonville, were injured and taken to the Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville.

According to state patrol officials, the agency’s specialized collision reconstruction team is conducting an in-depth investigation.It will interview witnesses, map the scene and complete a full report before working with prosecutors to decide if charges need to be filed.According to the state patrol, the deaths were among 19 in highway crashes statewide during the 78-hour Fourth of July holiday period.

One of the other fatalities also occurred in Hall County, and a fourth resulted from a wreck Saturday night in Dawson County.A 27-year-old Dawsonville man was pronounced dead at Northside Hospital-Forsyth, where he had been taken following the two-vehicle wreck on Hwy. 53 in western Dawson.The crash, which occurred about 10:30 p.m., injured at least three other people, including a toddler.