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Deadly UGA football crash: Report states excessive speed a factor

By FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team
Updated  January 17, 2023 10:40pm EST
Georgia Bulldogs
FOX 5 Atlanta

Excessive speed a factor in deadly UGA crash, police say

According to the report, the driver was speeding while traveling down Barnett Shoals Road in Athens early Sunday morning.

ATHENS, Ga. - The crash report offers new details about the violent crash that claimed the life of a University of Georgia football player and a staffer, and injured two others early Sunday morning.

The crash, which happened around 2:45 a.m. Sunday, just hours after the Bulldogs wrapped up their day-long celebration of back-to-back national championships. It killed 20-year-old offensive lineman Devin Willock and 24-year-old recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy and injured 21-year-old offensive lineman Warren McClendon and 26-year-old recruiting staffer Tory Bowles.

GEORGIA BULLDOGS MOURN LOSS OF FOOTBALL PLAYER, RECRUIT STAFFER

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A UGA football player and recruiting specialist were killed and two others injured in a violent crash along Barnett Shoals Road in Athens during the early morning hours of Jan. 15, 2023. (FOX 5)

The motor vehicle crash report filed by the Athens-Clarke County Police Department shows officers arrived within 10 minutes of the crash, which happened along Barnett Shoals Road a short distance before Stroud Road. Police say first responders found LeCroy trapped behind the wheel of a black 2021 Ford Expedition and Willock, who had been sitting in the SUV directly behind her, thrown from the vehicle. Despite the best efforts of the medics, Willock died at the scene.

LeCroy had to be freed from the wreckage. She, McClendon, and Bowles were then all rushed to Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center. LeCroy would later succumb to her injuries. McClendon, who was in the front passenger seat, suffered lacerations in the middle of his head and Bowles, who was in the right rear passenger seat, sustained multiple injuries.

UGA mourn loss of football player, recruit staffer

The UGA community is in mourning as Dawgs fans and loved ones remember the lives of offensive lineman Devin Willock and recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy.

DEVIN WILLOCK MADE YOUNG FAN SMILE BY SHOWING HIM A CHAMPIONSHIP RING

Investigators say the SUV was heading southbound along Barnett Shoals Road when it failed to negotiate a curve, striking the curb, leaving the roadway, traveled along the shoulder of the road, striking two power poles, cutting each in half. The report states the back of the SUV then spun into a tree, causing the vehicle to bounce off it and spin the opposite way before coming to rest between a parked car and an apartment building.

The report states Willock and Bowles were not wearing seat belts.

Investigators believe excessive speed was a contributing factor in the cause of the crash. The posted speed limit along the roadway is 40 mph, but police have not yet determined how fast the vehicle was traveling at the time.

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The report did not list any other vehicles besides the parked car in the apartment complex which was struck by the SUV.

The crash remains under investigation.