Alpharetta Nursing Student Killed in Wreck Near Savannah

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A Georgia Southern University junior from Alpharetta was killed along with four of her classmates in an early morning accident along Interstate 16 near Savannah.

In a message to students, University President Brooks Keel said the victims, all juniors, of the accident were: Catherine M. Pittman, 21, of Alpharetta; Emily Clark, 20 of Powder Springs; Abbie Deloach, 21, of Savannah; Morgan Bass, 20, of Leesburg; and Caitlyn Baggett, 21, of Millen.

The accident occurred along the interstate during the early morning hours of Wednesday, April 22. Two additional students, Brittney McDaniel of Reidsville and Megan Richards of Loganville, are being treated for injuries sustained in the accident, Keel added.

According to the Georgia State Patrol, troopers and Bryan County sheriff’s deputies responded to a seven-vehicle crash around 5:45 a.m. near mile marker 141 on the eastbound side of I-16. Once they arrived onto the scene, officers discovered a seven-vehicle pile-up, which included two tractor-trailers and five passenger vehicles.

Preliminary indication shows a tractor trailer “failed to stop as traffic was slowed/stopped and it crashed into a line of vehicles,” said spokesperson Franka Young.

The state agency said four of the occupants died at the scene: three in a Toyota Corrolla and one in a Ford Escape. The three additional occupants of the Escape were transported to Memorial Medical Center where one of three passed away.

Three others involved in the wreck were injured in the crash.

Preliminary information revealed that all five fatalities were nursing students from Georgia Southern, who “were traveling from Statesboro to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Savannah,” Young added.

Charges are pending the completion of the Georgia State Patrol’s Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team’s investigation.

“Every one of our students contributes in no small measure, to the Eagle Nation,” the president continued. “The loss of any student, especially in a tragic way, is particularly painful. Losing five students is almost incomprehensible. Our hearts go out to the families, friends and classmates of these students.”

Keel noted the university’s flag will fly at half-staff Thursday in the students’ memory.

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Photo credit: Fox 5 Atlanta