The father of a teen killed in a Friday night crash says a 21-year-old provided alcohol to his daughter and other teens involved in the accident, according to CBSAtlanta.com
Sixteen-year-old Cheyenne Sauls died, while Taylor Cross, 19, and Jamie McManis, 15, were injured when the vehicle they were in crashed in Douglas County, Ga., west of Atlanta, according to the Georgia State Patrol (GSP).
Police have charged the driver, Jason Lark, 17, with DUI and vehicular homicide in addition to a number of other traffic violations.
Eric Sauls’, the victim’s father, told CBS Atlanta that the 21-year-old left the scene of the accident before any emergency personnel arrived.
While the public spokesperson for the GSP, Lt. Paul Cosper, said there was a fifth person involved, he could not confirm the age of the person.
“We are still investigating who this person is,” said Cosper. “I can’t say what age the person is or who the person is, but we’re going to get to the bottom of it.”
Cosper told JJIE.org the GSP’s Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team is working on the case, piecing together exactly how the accident occurred. The information collected by the team, he said, could be used in future prosecution.
Sauls called the family and friends of Cheyenne together on Sunday night for a vigil at Villa Rica High School.
The vigil could provide more momentum to a renewed focus on teenage drinking in the Atlanta metro area. The Cobb Alcohol TaskForce -- a community organization north of Atlanta, dedicated to eliminating under-aged drinking -- staged a dramatization of a drunken house party as a way of educating parents to the dangers of teen drinking. You can read about this event at JJIE.org.