17 Killed Over Thanksgiving Holiday On Ga. Highways

The Georgia Department of Public Safety is reporting 17 traffic fatalities over the Thanksgiving holiday travel period.

This year’s 102-hour Thanksgiving holiday travel period began at 6 p.m. Wednesday and ended at midnight Sunday.

One of those fatal wrecks occurred Friday afternoon in Hart County and killed three members of a Franklin County family.

The accident occurred on State Route 77 Extension near the Lavonia Speedway.

Hart County Sheriff Mike Cleveland says at about 3:30 p.m. Friday, Marco Hernandez, age and address unknown, was driving under the influence when he crossed the center line of the road and hit another vehicle head-on, killing all three people in the other vehicle.

Those killed in the wreck were identified as 48-year-old Jerry Cannon, 32-year-old Katherine Cannon, and their 5-year-old daughter, Marie.

The Hart County Sheriff says Hernandez was injured and hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.

Meanwhile, authorities say Hernandez was charged with DUI and three counts of felony homicide by vehicle.

The Georgia State Patrol continues to investigate that accident.

Of those 17 fatalities, 15 were in accidents investigated by the Georgia State Patrol. Last year, the Georgia State Patrol investigated 10 traffic fatalities over the Thanksgiving holiday period.

(MJ Kneiser, WLHR Radio, Lavonia contributed to this report)

The other two traffic fatalities were reported by the Atlanta Police Department.