Nahunta woman, baby killed when car hit by big rig

Georgia State Patrol investigating fatal wreck in Brantley County

NAHUNTA, Ga. – A 32-year-old woman and her 10-month-old were killed Thursday morning when a tractor-trailer struck their car from behind on South Georgia Highway, according to the Georgia State Patrol.

The wreck occurred about 10 a.m. just east of Nahunta.

The Waycross Journal-Herald identified the victims as April McLaughlin Thornton, of Nahunta, and her young son, Chase Kemp.

A third person in the car, Mary Hill Rooks, 48, of Hortense, was flown to Shands Medical Center in Jacksonville with serious injuries.

The GSP said McLaughlin was driving a 1994 Ford Crown Victoria slowly east on South Georgia Parkway with her car's emergency flashers on when a 2007 Peterbilt driven by Richard Anthony Davis, 31, of Nahunta, struck the rear of the car.

The big rig jackknifed and came to a stop in the median and eastbound lane about 200 feet from the site of the impact. Davis and a passenger in the cab, Loriane Davis, 39, also of Nahunta, were not seriously injured.

The accident investigation was turned over to the GSP Collision Reconstruction Team.