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Truck stolen from Bainbridge involved in fatal Georgia crash
McDONOUGH, Ga., — The driver of a pickup truck stolen from Putnam County last week is allegedly responsible for a crash that claimed a toddler’s life in Georgia on Tuesday.
According to a report in the Henry Herald, Michael Logan Sexton, 26, Monrovia, was driving a Dodge Ram southbound on Interstate 75 when he reportedly rear-ended a Hyundai Santa Fe that was carrying the toddler. This set of a chain reaction that collected two other vehicles.
Henry County (Ga.) Police report that Sexton was following too closely and driving too fast for the conditions.
The toddler, who was properly restrained, died as a result of injuries sustained in the crash. No other serious injuries were reported.
On Thursday, the Henry County coroner identified the two-year-old as Leena Guidot of Tarpon Springs, Fla. The Guidot family was originally from Michigan and was driving a vehicle with Michigan plates.
The highway was especially busy at the time of the incident, even for suburban Atlanta. Herald reporter Chelsea Prince wrote that southbound I-75 traffic was heavy as evacuees made their way back home to South Georgia and Florida after Hurrican Irma.
Both Sexton and his passenger, 17-year-old William Jarrett Helm, also of Monrovia, allegedly fled the scene by jumping over a concrete wall.
Both were located and arrested and are now facing charges related to the crash and foot chase.
The 2002 Dodge Ram 2500 was reported stolen Putnam County on Wednesday, Sept. 6.
Capt. Tom Helmer of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, who investigated the incident, told the Banner Graphic that the theft took place east of the intersection of U.S. 36 and U.S. 231, near the Indiana State Highway garage.
The vehicle was for sale and parked in a field. The suspect or suspects reportedly broke out a window and hot wired the truck.
Helmer added that the plate from the stolen truck was recovered Saturday near Belleville in Hendricks County, along with a different stolen vehicle and a stolen bulldozer.
Two subjects are reportedly in custody in Hendricks County on charges related to the stolen goods.
While Sexton has not directly been linked to the Putnam County theft, Georgia authorities allege he was in possession of the truck at the time of the crash.
The Herald reported that Sexton’s specific charges include homicide by vehicle in the first degree, homicide by interference with official traffic control, theft by receiving property stolen in another state, affixing of plate to conceal or misrepresent identity, driving while license suspended or revoked, failure to report accident, following too close, driving too fast for conditions and willful obstruction of law enforcement officers.
Helm is charged with willful obstruction of law enforcement.
A Henry County Magistrate Court judge on Wednesday denied Sexton bond on the homicide charges.
In 2015, Sexton was arrested near Bainbridge after leading police on a four-county chase.
He was later convicted of Level 6 felony resisting law enforcement in that case. Putnam Superior Court Judge Denny Bridges sentenced Sexton to two years, with 220 days executed.
With 111 days already served in the Putnam County Jail at that point, Sexton was released for time served, with the remainder of the sentence to be served on probation.
Sexton also has felony charges pending in Morgan County in two auto theft cases. He had been released on bond in both.