Crime & Safety
Witness Gives Different Account of Fatal Teen Wreck
Janeal Priester, 18, and Nick Wright, 17, died in a two-car accident Wednesday near Paulding County High School.
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The Georgia State Patrol is continuing its investigation into the crash that claimed the lives of two Paulding County teenagers last week.
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WSB-TV, which spoke to a witness who said she saw the whole thing, reported charges are now possible in the Wednesday night crash that killed high school sweathearts Janeal Priester, 18, and Nick Wright, 17.
The state patrol initially said charges were not expected in the crash on Ga. Highway 61 near Paulding County High School, where Priester was a recent graduate and Wright was a rising senior football player. The state patrol said it’s preliminary findings pointed toward Priester being at fault because she had allegedly pulled out in front of a vehicle driven by Sarah Dowdy, 22, of Hiram.
Find out what's happening in Dallas-Hiramfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
But the witness told WSB she saw two cars “driving very erradically” and were speeding up and slowing down before one of them crashed into Priester’s car.
The witness, Kerstin Liberty, told CBS 46 the two cars -- a Toyota Camry and a Ford Mustang -- were possibly drag racing before the Camry apparently crashed into Priester’s Oldsmobile Alero as she was turning left around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Liberty told Channel 46 she followed the two speeding cars, called 911 and tried to get the license plate numbers before seeing the crash. She said the Camry was trying to pass the Mustangs and struck Priester’s car.
“I just feel like people need to know what really happened,” Liberty told the CBS station.
In its initial report, the state patrol said Priester was turning left onto Highway 61 from Old Villa Rica Road when she pulled her vehicle in front of a southbound Camry. The Camry struck the Oldsmobile on the driver’s side, the state patrol said.
Janeal’s 16-year-old brother, Joshua Priester was injured in the crash.
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Meanwhile, a GoFundMe donation page has been set up to help pay for funeral costs for the teens. “Funeral Expenses for Nick & Janeal” had raised more than $16,000 (of the $20,000 goal) as of Monday morning.
To make a donation, click on the link below.
Photo: GoFundMe
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