Driver in alleged DUI crash that killed Georgia mayor, wife booked in Cherokee County jail
William Abernathy, charged with DUI and vehicular homicide.
CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. - The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office said a man charged with DUI is being held in the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center while he awaits a hearing in connection to a deadly car crash involving Emerson Mayor Al Pallone and his wife, Camilla.
The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office said 50-year-old William Abernathy is also charged with vehicular homicide, serious injury by vehicle and reckless driving.
According to officials with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, the couple was driving down Knox Bridge Highway Saturday afternoon when Abernathy's Chevrolet pickup collided with their Hyundai Santa Fe. The crash involved a total of four cars and all surviving occupants, including Abernathy, were hospitalized after the crash.
Pallone and his wife had lived in the Emerson community for about 40 years.
"It’s just tragic…just tragic," Mayor Pro Tem Vincent Wiley said. "They were like family to my family, personally, so it’s [really] hard right now."
The City of Emerson’s final council meeting of the year is scheduled for this upcoming Monday, Dec. 12. Wiley said it would be the first meeting in decades that Mayor Pallone’s presence would not be felt. Wiley will serve as acting mayor while Emerson city leaders decide what’s next.