Driver arrested for crash that killed 2 UGA students, 1 Alpharetta HS student

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - The 18-year-old driver involved in a single-vehicle crash in mid-May that killed two freshmen at the University of Georgia and a senior at Alpharetta High School has been arrested.

The crash occurred on May 14 on Westside Parkway near Maxwell Road in Alpharetta. UGA freshmen Sriya Avasarala and Anvi Sharma, along with high school senior Aryan Joshi, were killed. All three of the deceased were 18 at the time of their deaths.

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The driver has been identified as Rithwak Somepalli, who is also a student at UGA. Another Alpharetta High School student, 18-year-old Mohammed Liyakath, was also in the vehicle at the time.

At the time of the crash, police said that speed might have been a factor.

According to Fulton County Jail records, Somepalli was booked on Wednesday. He has been charged with three counts of vehicular homicide in the first degree. He was also charged with reckless driving. 

Rithwak Somepalli

The minimum prison sentence if convicted of first degree vehicular homicide in Georgia is 3 years. The maximum is 15 years. 

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Fatality Analysis Reporting System, a total of 3,058 teenagers between the ages of 13 and 19 were killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2021. This is 65% fewer than in 1975 and 11% more than in 2020.

In 2021, teenagers accounted for 7% of motor vehicle crash deaths and 9% of passenger vehicle occupant deaths. The percentage of crash deaths that were passenger vehicle occupants is lowest for age 13 (55%) and highest for ages 17 and 18 (81%).

In 2020, motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of death for females between the ages of 13 and 19 and one of the leading causes for males of the same age.