Updates On I-85 Pursuits/Crashes Yesterday

Two incidents on Interstate 85 near Lavonia yesterday injured several individuals and closed down the interstate for an extended period of time. 

First, Two people were injured after a high-speed chase on Interstate 85 Northbound.

According to incident details reported by GSP Post 52’s Sgt. J.R. Dean. at approximately 11:45 a.m., Troopers from Post 52 (Hartwell) were requested by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office to assist in a vehicle pursuit that was traveling northbound on Interstate 85. The driver was later identified as Jovontae Marquelle Hill, 31, of La Mesa, California.

 Troopers took primary in the pursuit during the initial encounter with the fleeing 2023 GMC Yukon near mile marker 173.  As the pursuit approached mile marker 175 on Interstate 85 Northbound, a Trooper successfully performed a PIT maneuver causing the Yukon to rotate clockwise off the east shoulder of Interstate 85.  

The Yukon struck a guardrail end and overturned multiple times off the east shoulder of Interstate 85.  Troopers immediately began to render aid to the injured occupants, one of which was six months pregnant, and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Deputies arrested the driver.  Troopers stabilized the injured pregnant passenger until Franklin County EMS could further assess her injuries and she was subsequently lifeflighted with serious injuries to Northeast Georgia Medical Center (Gainesville Campus), where the unborn child did not survive.  

The driver was transported by ambulance to Prisma Health Greenville Memorial Hospital with serious injuries and the remaining passenger was transported by ambulance to AnMed Health Medical Center with a complaint of stomach pain.  

The Troop B Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team (SCRT) responded to the scene, due to the nature of the injuries involved.  While the crash investigation was being conducted, an on-scene Trooper began to feel sick, experience chest pains, and became severely discolored.  After these noted observations, another Trooper and Franklin County EMS assisted Trooper in need to an ambulance, where he was transported to AnMed Health Medical Center with a confirmed heart attack upon arrival.  The Trooper remains hospitalized and is recovering in CICU at the time of this report.  The driver will be facing multiple charges to include felony fleeing, feticide by vehicle, and reckless driving.

As this incident was being investigated, another high-speed chase ensued on Interstate 85 Southbound.

According to incident details reported by GSP Post 52’s Comander SFC Camran Fleming, at approximately 12:42,  Post 52 Troopers were notified by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office of a kidnapping suspect, later identified as  Joshua Bennett Dornellas, 32 , of Anderson, South Carolina, traveling south on Interstate 85 in South Carolina.  

As undercover investigators from South Carolina were following the suspect, it was determined that the driver had 3-year-old in the front seat and threatened to kill the child.  

As the suspect entered Georgia, Hart County Deputies attempted to stop the suspect and a pursuit ensued.  Troopers took primary in the pursuit on Interstate 85 southbound at mile marker 172.  As the pursuit approached mile marker 165, several Troopers attempted a Box-In maneuver, which was unsuccessful.  

As the interior began to fill with smoke from a fire intentionally set by the suspect, the suspect exited the driver’s window while traveling at approximately 55 mph. 

The vehicle continued south striking an embankment and becoming fully engulfed with the child inside.  Troopers, MCCD officers, deputies from Franklin and Hart Counties, and deputies from South Carolina were able to extinguish the fire and subsequently located the 3-year-old child in the floorboard of the driver’s side with severe burns.  

The child was provided medical attention and flown to the Augusta Burn Center in critical condition.  The driver was arrested and transported to Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center for the injuries he sustained.  The suspect is facing a long list of criminal charges which will be released at a later date.

 According to news reports from Anderson, SC, deputies in Anderson County, S.C. were called to a home along Harris Avenue in Belton, S.C. where authorities said Dornallas violently assaulted the mother of his child and kidnapped their 3-year-old son.

This report was provided by WNEG sister station WLHR in Lavonia, as reported by News Director MJ Kneiser. WLHR and WNEG will monitor both of these breaking stories and will provide updates when they become available.