A seven-month-old girl named Kalayia Tolbert never made it home Saturday night. She was riding in a car on Interstate 20 in DeKalb County when a high-speed chase turned into a pileup of ten vehicles.
It started just before midnight. A state trooper saw an Audi flying down the road at about 110 miles an hour in a 60 zone. The car had no headlights on and was weaving hard through traffic. The trooper tried to pull it over. The driver touched the shoulder for a second then took off again.
The chase went east on I-20. The Audi got off at Candler Road, jumped back on, and later exited at Wesley Chapel Road. There the driver lost it. The car hit a guardrail and smashed into other vehicles. Ten cars ended up in the wreck.
Three babies were in one of the hit cars. Crews rushed them to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Kalayia did not survive her injuries. The man behind the wheel of the Audi, 33-year-old Cameron Gabriel Kemp from Covington, went to Grady Memorial Hospital. He died there too.
Kemp was driving with a suspended license. He had two open warrants, one for a probation violation and one for skipping court. He had done time before for aggravated battery.
Folks around DeKalb are left picking up the pieces. A little girl who had only been here seven months is gone. The driver who ran is gone as well. The other two infants are still getting care. The road is quiet again, but the hurt is not.
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