A Gwinnett County man has been charged with first-degree vehicular homicide in connection with the death of Franklin County sheriff’s Deputy William Garner.
The Georgia State Patrol said 21-year-old Abdulhafiz Tawfik Abdullahi of Lawrenceville struck and killed Garner on Sunday.
The deputy was responding to an accident on I-85 on Sunday when the crash occurred.
GSP spokeswoman Lt. Stephanie Stallings said Garner was assisting people who were involved in a single-vehicle accident.
The first crash occurred near mile marker 164 and the 53-year-old Garner arrived at the scene around 7 p.m.
Abdullahi was heading south in a 2018 Honda Accord when he lost control of the vehicle, went into a median, and struck Garner.
The deputy was pronounced dead at a hospital. Abdullahi did not suffer any injuries.
Garner worked in the sheriff’s office for a little over a year. He became the third Franklin deputy to be killed in the line of duty following deaths in 1964 and 2014.
Garner is also the fourth Georgia law enforcement officer to be killed in the line of duty this year. A canine with the Henry County Police Department, K-9 Thorr, also died earlier this year.
All of these incidents involved a crash or pursuit.
Before Sunday’s fatality, the last officer killed in Georgia was 34-year-old Christopher Ewing of Smyrna. He died in April after a suspected drunk driver struck his patrol car.
Across the country, an estimated 128 law enforcement officers have been killed this year. In 2019, there were 147 deaths and Georgia lost seven officers and two dogs in the line of duty.
If you have lost a loved one in a crash or you suffered injuries, reach out to a Georgia car accident lawyer. You may be entitled to compensation.
Source: https://www.ajc.com/news/gwinnett-man-charged-in-crash-that-killed-georgia-deputy/BZBYHMCPQ5GEJASCZ5I3VZZFOQ/
