The driver of the tractor-trailer involved in Monday night's fatal semi-v.-Mustang accident on I-59 near Slygo has been charged with second-degree homicide by vehicle and failure to yield when entering the roadway. Despite the difference in magnitude between the two charges, Sgt. Chad Payne, information for the Dade County Sheriff's Department, says they are both considered misdemeanors.
Stephen W. Farmer, 35, of Fort Payne, Ala., was the driver of the tractor-trailer. According to a Georgia State Patrol report, he was attempting to merge into the righthand lane of southbound I-59 from the shoulder as Thomas Walling, 34, of Rossville, drove by in that lane in a 2007 Ford Mustang. The front of the passenger car slammed into the back of the semi and Walling was killed.
The GSP reports that a passenger, Thomas Miller, 72, of Sylvania, Ala., was not injured.
Sgt. Payne's report includes the additional detail that two more passenger cars were involved in the incident and that neither of the other drivers sustained serious injury. "Early info also suggests that the other two vehicles crashed as a result of the initial crash between the tractor-trailer and passenger car," reported Sgt. Payne.
The accident caused law enforcement to shut down that part of Interstate 59 southbound.
Sgt. Payne also reported that Farmer had bonded out of the Dade County jail Tuesday on a $15,000 bail.
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