Update on I-85 High Speed Chases

WNEG sister station WLHR station manager Daniel Brown has provided an update on two recent high-speed chases on Interstate 85 near the Lavonia exit. 

In a pair of bond hearings on Friday pertaining to two unrelated high-speed chases on Interstate 85 that occurred within an hour of each other, bond has been denied for one of the accused while the bond request for the other suspect has been withdrawn. 

In the first high-speed chase that resulted in the death of an unborn child, Superior Court Judge Chris Phelps denied bond for 31-year-old Jovontae Marquelle Hill of La Mesa, California.  According to Sgt. Ray Dean with the Georgia State Patrol, on Wednesday, May 8, around 11:45 a.m., the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office requested assistance from Hartwell Post 52 in a vehicle pursuit of a 2023 GMC Yukon that was traveling northbound on I-85. 

Dean said as the pursuit approached mile marker 175, a Trooper performed a PIT maneuver causing the Yukon to strike a guardrail and overturn multiple times off the east shoulder of the interstate.  Two passengers were riding in the vehicle including a pregnant female whose unborn child did not survive the wreck.  Dean said in addition to feticide by vehicle, Hill is also facing multiple charges including felony fleeing.

In another chase involving a South Carolina man accused of assaulting a woman, kidnapping their three-year-old son, fleeing, and setting the vehicle on fire with the child still in it, the defense withdrew their bond request.  According to the Franklin County Clerk of Court Office, the case is being continued to gather more information. 

Georgia State Patrol Hartwell Post Commander Camran Fleming said on Wednesday, May 8, around 12:42pm, Post 52 Troopers were notified by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office of a kidnapping suspect traveling south on Interstate 85 in South Carolina.  Fleming said as undercover investigators from South Carolina were following the suspect, it was determined that the driver had a 3-year-old in the front seat and threatened to kill the child. 

As the suspect, identified as 32-year old Joshua Bennett Dornellas of Anderson, South Carolina, entered Georgia, Hart County deputies attempted to stop him, and a pursuit ensued.  Hart County Sheriff Mike Cleveland says around that time, Dornellas poured an accelerant inside the cab of the truck, lit it, and jumped out the driver’s side window.  Cleveland said he believes Dornellas also poured accelerant on his son.  With 3rd degree burns over 90% of his body, little Bennett Dornellas continues to fight for his life at the Augusta Burn Center.  He remains in critical but stable condition.