Police Charge Driver in Crash That Killed 21-Year-Old

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CARTERSVILLE, GA -- The Georgia State Patrol has charged a Cartersville man in the November 2015 crash that killed one person and injured another.

Willie Joe Heath, 47 at the time of his booking, has been charged with first degree homicide by vehicle, DUI, failure to drive within single lane and driving on the wrong side of the road.

The collision occurred around 10:30 p.m. Nov. 26 on S.R. 293 just outside Kingston’s city limits. 

While negotiating a curve, the driver of a 2006 Chrysler 300 traveling southbound on the highway “crossed over the double yellow line” and hit a 1996 Dodge Ram traveling northbound head-on, Georgia State Patrol spokesperson Tracey Watson previously told Patch.

The driver of the Chrysler, Heath, was injured and transported to Floyd Medical Center for treatment. 

The driver of the Dodge, Cartersville resident Jessie Tyler Law, 21, was killed in the crash while his passenger, 20-year-old Kendra Alayne Mealer of Adairsville, was injured and taken to Floyd Medical Center.

Heath remains held at the Bartow County Jail without bond.

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