By Joe Johnson
An Athens trucker was killed late Tuesday afternoon when struck by an SUV on Commerce Road soon after his tractor trailer was involved in a collision in which an Athens woman was critically injured.
According to the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, at about 5:40 p.m. officers responded to a two-vehicle collision at Commerce Road and Pinebluff Road, where the driver of a 2002 Chevy Malibu, 30-year-old Jasmine Littlejohn of Athens pulled into the path of a 2014 International tractor-trailer truck headed north on Commerce Road. The vehicles collided and came to rest in a turn lane.
The truck's driver, 31-year-old Quentin Williams of Athens, exited his rig and crossed the street to the Shell Gas station parking lot nearby.
A co-worker, 59-year-old Robert White of Watkinsville, arrived soon afterward and joined Williams at the gas station.
According to witnesses, the two men decided to walk across Commerce Road to check on Littlejohn in the wrecked Malibu when they were struck by a northbound Chevy Tahoe driven by 37-year-old John Trim of Jefferson.
EMS transported both men to the hospital, where Williams died and White was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Littlejohn was transported to the local hospital with serious injuries and on Wednesday was listed in critical condition, police said. A passenger in Littlejohn’s car was treated for minor injuries.
An investigation was ongoing and police asked for anyone with information regarding the incident to contact Sgt. Schulte at Robert.Schulte@accgov.com / 762-400-7093.
ACCPD noted that incident was the 17th fatal crash of 2023, resulting in 18 deaths.