COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Police have issued arrest warrants for a driver they say caused a crash that killed a woman in Cobb County last month as she walked to her second job.
Brandon Earl, a 38-year-old from Tennessee, is accused of reaching for his phone and driving with a suspended license during the July 16 crash.
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Police said Earl was driving a GMC Sierra on Hicks Road when he crossed over the center line and crashed into a GMC Yukon causing that SUV to flip. Earl continued south in the northbound lane and crashed into a Ford Escape and sent that car into a guardrail.
Police said the driver, identified as Debbie Bates, died at the scene. The drivers of the other two cars police say Earl hit were taken to the hospital.
Investigators determined that Earl was distracted when he reached for his phone. Police issued warrants on the following charges: Homicide by Vehicle in the 2nd Degree, Failure to Maintain Lane, Driver to Exercise Due Care, and Driving While License Suspended/Revoked.
As of Tuesday, he is not in police custody.
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Channel 2′s Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell spoke to Bates’ friend, Davien Harlis, who said that now, he gets no more text messages and has no more visits, all because of distracted driving.
“Such a careless act and so tragically,” Harlis said. “We don’t get her back.”
Harlis worked with Bates at Walmart years ago but they remained in good friends. Harlis said sometimes, Bates was a big sister to him. Other times, she was like his mother.
“She probably was one of the most kind people I think I’ve ever met,” Harlis said. “She was funny. She was fun. She was hard-working.”
There is now a memorial for Bates on full display inside the Austell Walmart.
“She worked in the garden center. She worked in the cash office,” Harlis said. “She worked wherever they put her.”
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