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Teen charged in motorcyclist's death
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By Blake Spurney Editor
A Tiger teenager faces a charge of vehicular homicide for driving her vehicle across the center line and striking an oncoming motorcycle Friday morning on Bridge Creek Road.
Jordan Caprice Taylor, 18, left the scene after the violent collision about 7:15 a.m. that killed a 60-year-old Claxton man and severely injured his 13-year-old grandson.
Clayton police found her about two hours later at her job at Mama G's Italian Restaurant, said Rabun County Sheriff's Deputy Cary Brown. Taylor then returned to the wreck scene near Rocky Grove Baptist Church.
"It's probably the worst lick I've ever seen as far as seeing a motorcycle hit a rig, and I've seen a lot of them over the last 18 years," Brown said. The collision sheared off the front wheel of Taylor's 2001 Honda Odyssey.
Taylor walked to a nearby residence and it was unclear how she got to Mama G's.
Benjamin Alvin Lewis was declared dead at the scene. His grandson, Joseph Lewis, was airlifted to Greenville (S.C.) Memorial Hospital, where he underwent surgery and was listed in stable condition Friday afternoon, Brown said.
Freddie Warnock, 62, of Claxton was following Lewis on his Kawasaki Vulcan. He tried to avoid the collision with Taylor's vehicle and overcorrected on the shoulder, causing him to lose control. He flew over the handlebars and got the wind knocked out of him, along with other minor injuries, Brown said.
Neither Taylor nor her lawyer, Gus McDonald of Cornelia, returned phone calls seeking comment.
The GSP Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team is investigating the accident. Taylor refused to submit a blood sample, but troopers were able to obtain one after serving her with a search warrant signed by Chief Magistrate Dave Adolph.
Adolph said Taylor had admitted smoking some marijuana the night before to the troopers. She was booked into the Rabun County Detention Center on charges of homicide by vehicle in the first degree, driving on a suspended license, leaving the scene of an accident with injury and driving on the wrong side of the road.
Taylor was released from custody Monday morning in lieu of $10,500 bond, Adolph said.
"She was in pretty bad shape when I saw her down there," Adolph said. "I told her she's changed the lives of two families, and you're just going to have to live with it."
Adolph also said young drivers often fled wreck scenes or other incidents because they were frightened and immature.
Lewis had a cabin near the South Carolina state line. He was part of a group of three motorcycles riding from Long Creek, S.C., to Helen to meet up with a larger group of riders. Besides Warnock, the smaller group included another grandfather with his teenage son.
"It started out as a father-son trip, and it's sort of developed into a father-grandson sort of thing," said Neal Hammack of Claxton.
Between 15-20 riders had been making the same trip to the North Georgia mountains for about 20 years. "It's just a good four-day trip," Hammack said. "We're about 240 miles from Helen." He and the others waiting in Helen had just finished breakfast when they got the call about Lewis' wreck.
"He was one of the safest riders," Hammack said about Lewis. "He knew what to do. He'd been riding all of these years."
Lewis worked as a master carpenter in Claxton. When he wasn't building homes or helping his son in the business, most weekends he would be heading to or from his mountain retreat.
"He was a great person, a great family man (who) loved his grandkids," Hammack said. "Usually every time we took out of here, he'd have one of the grandkids on the back of his motorcycle."
Despite the horrible ending to their annual trip, the riders already have their trip booked for next year.
"Alvin liked to ride and enjoyed the mountains and would have wanted us to do it," Hammack said.
Jordan Caprice Taylor, 18, left the scene after the violent collision about 7:15 a.m. that killed a 60-year-old Claxton man and severely injured his 13-year-old grandson.
Clayton police found her about two hours later at her job at Mama G's Italian Restaurant, said Rabun County Sheriff's Deputy Cary Brown. Taylor then returned to the wreck scene near Rocky Grove Baptist Church.
"It's probably the worst lick I've ever seen as far as seeing a motorcycle hit a rig, and I've seen a lot of them over the last 18 years," Brown said. The collision sheared off the front wheel of Taylor's 2001 Honda Odyssey.
Taylor walked to a nearby residence and it was unclear how she got to Mama G's.
Benjamin Alvin Lewis was declared dead at the scene. His grandson, Joseph Lewis, was airlifted to Greenville (S.C.) Memorial Hospital, where he underwent surgery and was listed in stable condition Friday afternoon, Brown said.
Freddie Warnock, 62, of Claxton was following Lewis on his Kawasaki Vulcan. He tried to avoid the collision with Taylor's vehicle and overcorrected on the shoulder, causing him to lose control. He flew over the handlebars and got the wind knocked out of him, along with other minor injuries, Brown said.
Neither Taylor nor her lawyer, Gus McDonald of Cornelia, returned phone calls seeking comment.
The GSP Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team is investigating the accident. Taylor refused to submit a blood sample, but troopers were able to obtain one after serving her with a search warrant signed by Chief Magistrate Dave Adolph.
Adolph said Taylor had admitted smoking some marijuana the night before to the troopers. She was booked into the Rabun County Detention Center on charges of homicide by vehicle in the first degree, driving on a suspended license, leaving the scene of an accident with injury and driving on the wrong side of the road.
Taylor was released from custody Monday morning in lieu of $10,500 bond, Adolph said.
"She was in pretty bad shape when I saw her down there," Adolph said. "I told her she's changed the lives of two families, and you're just going to have to live with it."
Adolph also said young drivers often fled wreck scenes or other incidents because they were frightened and immature.
Lewis had a cabin near the South Carolina state line. He was part of a group of three motorcycles riding from Long Creek, S.C., to Helen to meet up with a larger group of riders. Besides Warnock, the smaller group included another grandfather with his teenage son.
"It started out as a father-son trip, and it's sort of developed into a father-grandson sort of thing," said Neal Hammack of Claxton.
Between 15-20 riders had been making the same trip to the North Georgia mountains for about 20 years. "It's just a good four-day trip," Hammack said. "We're about 240 miles from Helen." He and the others waiting in Helen had just finished breakfast when they got the call about Lewis' wreck.
"He was one of the safest riders," Hammack said about Lewis. "He knew what to do. He'd been riding all of these years."
Lewis worked as a master carpenter in Claxton. When he wasn't building homes or helping his son in the business, most weekends he would be heading to or from his mountain retreat.
"He was a great person, a great family man (who) loved his grandkids," Hammack said. "Usually every time we took out of here, he'd have one of the grandkids on the back of his motorcycle."
Despite the horrible ending to their annual trip, the riders already have their trip booked for next year.
"Alvin liked to ride and enjoyed the mountains and would have wanted us to do it," Hammack said.
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kevin lewis wrote on Nov 13, 2009 9:39 AM: