By Joe Johnson
Warrants have been issued for the arrest of a University of Georgia football player in connection with a vehicle wreck last month that killed a teammate and a UGA staffer.
Athens-Clarke County police said the warrants charge 21-year-old Jalen Carter with reckless driving and racing.
Carter is a defensive lineman who is expected to be a first-round selection in this year's NFL draft, and the teammate who was killed, Devin Willock, was an offensive lineman who also was also believed to have been a top draft prospect.
On the night of Jan. 15, police said, Carter was racing a 2021 Jeep Trackhawk against a 2021 Ford Expedition driven by Chandler LeCroy, a 24-year-old recruitment analyst for UGA’s football program.
The vehicles were said by police to have reached speeds of over 100 Road before LeCroy lost control of the SUV in the 900 block of Barnett Shoals Road, causing it to crash into utility poles and trees before coming to a rest against a building at Shoal Creek apartments.
Willock, who was a passenger in the Expedition was killed instantly, and LeCroy died at the hospital.
An investigation determined that speed and alcohol were "significant" contributing factors in the wreck. Police said that LeCroy had a blood alcohol concentration of .197 percent, or more than twice the legal limit allowed for driving.
In a news release, ACCPD described how the two vehicles jockeyed for position as they were recklessly driven at breakneck speeds:
“The evidence demonstrated that both vehicles switched between lanes, drove in the center turn lane, drove in opposite lanes of travel, overtook other motorists, and drove at high rates of speed, in an apparent attempt to outdistance each other. Evidence indicated that shortly before the crash the Expedition was traveling at about 104 miles per hour.”
The case will be given to the ACC Solicitor General’s Office for prosecution.