Local News web posted Tuesday, February10,2004

Liberty County wreck kills Florida man

Lewis Levine
for the Savannah Morning News

A Sunday night accident on Interstate 95 in Liberty County left a Florida man dead and five others injured.

Harley Walls, 20 of Middleburg, Fla., was killed, Georgia state troopers said. He and his brother, John Walls, and four friends were headed to Fort Stewart to bring clothes to a friend scheduled to deploy to Iraq within the next few weeks.

The Georgia State Patrol said a 1996 Chevrolet Cavalier driven by John Walls, 18, hit a construction barrel about 8:30 p.m. and swerved toward an embankment at exit 67.

The vehicle rolled over several times and stopped at the bottom of the ramp, troopers said. Andrew Hutchinson and James Alexander, both 19, and Sheila Hines, 18, were ejected from the vehicle.

Hutchinson sustained serious back injuries, Alexander suffered contusions, and Hines had multiple injuries, troopers said. All three were taken to Memorial Medical Center in Savannah.

Harley Walls was pronounced dead at the scene. John Walls sustained minor injuries, as did Jason Padgett, 17.

Padgett's friend, Spec. Blair Shiver, said the group was headed from the Jacksonville area to Fort stewart to visit and bring personal items to Spc. Mike Padgett, who will deploy to Iraq later this month with the 850th Transportation Company, a reserve unit from Lyons, Miss.

Mike and Jason Padgett held each other and cried as rescue workers from Riceboro and Midway removed Harley Walls from the vehicle.

When Walls learned his brother had been killed, he sobbed uncontrollaby in the back of a patrol car.

State Trooper R.L. Howard said it appears alcohol may have been a factor in the accident. Beer cans were found at the scene.

Troopers are awaiting the results of a blood test. Charges may be filed pending the investigation's outcome.