Victims identified in fatal crash with tractor-trailer on Ga. 96

Two people from Bonaire died in a Houston County crash Monday night.

William Benjamin Countryman, 31, and his passenger, 25-year-old Amanda Jo Parker, were killed when Countryman’s Honda Civic pulled out from Hampton Meadows Drive in front of a tractor-trailer that was headed east on Ga. 96.

The crash happened about 7:30 p.m. near Bonaire Middle School, according to a release from the Houston County Sheriff’s Office.

Countryman was dead at the scene, and Parker was taken to the Medical Center, Navicent Health, where she later died.

Houston Lt. Clay Chambers said the driver of the 2003 Peterbilt semi-truck was not injured.

Skid marks on the highway indicated that the truck driver applied brakes and went into the oncoming lane of traffic after the point of impact.

“They have no doubt he did everything he could to avoid it, but couldn’t,” Houston County Coroner Danny Galpin said.

On Friday, a 51-year-old man driving a motorcycle was killed just four miles west on Ga. 96 in Twiggs County.

The Houston County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the crash and asks anyone with information to call Lt. Clay Chambers at 478-542-2080.

This story was originally published June 27, 2017 at 1:06 PM with the headline "Victims identified in fatal crash with tractor-trailer on Ga. 96."