Triple Fatality Hits I-20 in Douglasville Over Holiday Weekend

July 8, 2008 - Early Saturday morning (July 5), travelers on I-20 in Douglasville near the Cobb-Douglas County line witnessed tragedy as a fiery wrong-way accident killed three young metro Atlanta residents. Authorities received a 911 call warning them of a man driving west on I-20 East, head-on into oncoming traffic. Police are still unsure of the length of time that Mableton’s Otis South, 41, was going the wrong-way on the interstate. What they do know is that the warning call was too late– around 1:45am, just minutes after the first call, 911 received reports of a head-on collision involving South’s Lincoln Continental and a white Pontiac Sunbird containing three women. Fatima Bird, a 22-year-old Douglasville resident and driver of the Sunbird, was killed instantly upon impact. Her close friend, 26-year-old Melisa (Lisa) Sinkfield of Atlanta, died soon after as she was being transported to Grady Memorial Hospital. Police tried, unsuccessfully, to extinguish the flames surrounding South’s vehicle while they awaited the arrival of the fire department, and he died soon after firemen removed him from the car.
The only survivor, Carrollton’s Keonda Brown, 22, suffered a broken hip in the crash and will need to undergo surgery and remain in a wheelchair for several weeks. From her hospital bed at Atlanta Medical Center the morning of the accident, she described her experience: she remembered being in the crash and realizing that one of her friends was killed. She was informed that she had lost both friends once she arrived at the hospital. According to relatives, the three young women were extremely close and spent time together almost daily. They were en route to a Decatur July 4^th party when Otis South’s vehicle slammed into Bird’s Pontiac between the Lee Road and Fairburn Road exits. Police are still determining whether South was under the influence of any drugs or alcohol.
Our law firm handles car accident and fatal accident cases such as this.  If you have been injured or lost a loved one due to another's reckless driving, call us at Murphy and Associates (770-577-3020) for a free consultation.  There is absolutely no obligation.