Distracted driving crash leads to woman's death 3 weeks after I-75 pileup

A Lawrenceville woman died Tuesday, 24 days after she was injured in a crash on Interstate 75 South in Bibb County.

Leda Lyerly, 61, suffered traumatic brain injuries and had been hospitalized in the ICU at Medical Center, Navicent Health, since the Dec. 2 pileup, said her sister, Diana Donley.

Lyerly was pronounced dead at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday at the Trauma Center, Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones said.

"It's been a tragic year for Bibb County," Jones said.

The Bibb County Sheriff's Office's initial report stated Lyerly and her husband, Thomas Lyerly, suffered minor injuries, but both had back fractures and head injuries, Donley said.

He remains hospitalized.

"He was by her side when she passed away," said Donley, who plans to campaign against distracted driving in her sister's memory.

The 7 a.m. crash happened when Amanda Richardson, of St. Charles, Missouri, took her eyes off the road, Bibb sheriff's deputies said.

Richardson had just passed the Sardis Church Road exit in a 2017 Ford Expedition and had entered a construction zone near Byron when she looked down, the sheriff's news release stated.

She hit the back of the Lyerlys' 2006 Honda CRV which hit a 2012 Honda Accord driven by Jang Moon, of Macon.

Moon's Accord hit the back of a 2008 Nissan 350Z driven by Tennilleql Everette-Battle, of Macon.

The Nissan hit Jean Chesling's 2014 Jeep Cherokee that hit the back of a 2008 Chervolet Silverado pickup driven by Scottie Roberson of Dacula.

The pileup blocked the interstate for about two hours.

Liz Fabian: 478-744-4303; @liz_lines

This story was originally published December 27, 2017 at 8:17 AM with the headline "Distracted driving crash leads to woman's death 3 weeks after I-75 pileup."