By Joe Johnson
The pregnant woman who died after the vehicle she was in crashed in Athens on Saturday was one of two passengers, according to an Athens-Clarke County police report.
A press release issued by the police department the day of the crash simply said that 27-year-old Alana Barnes of Lavonia died from injuries she suffered in a single-vehicle crash on Danielsville Road, and that her 15-week-old fetus did not survive. The release contained no details of the incident.
However, according to the accident report released this week, Barnes and a 28-year-old woman from Commerce were passengers in a 2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer that was being driven by Clinton Jester, 37, of Forsyth.
According to the report, Jester was driving north on Danielsville Road at about 9:40 a.m. when he ran a red light at Hull Road and his vehicle “continued straight, left the road and travelled approximately 150 feet until it struck a tree at the edge of the woods with its front passenger corner.”
The Trailblazer rotated while continuing to travel north before coming to a rest approximately 40 feet from the tree.
Barnes and her unborn child died after the woman was transported to the hospital, and Jester was transported for superficial injuries to his face, according to the report, which noted that Jester’s other passenger was uninjured.
Lt. Jonathan McIlvaine, commanding officer of the Athens-Clarke County police Traffic Unit, said that any charges were pending completion of an investigation.