Victims identified after separate deadly single-vehicle crashes in Jones County

Two people are dead after two separate, single-vehicle crashes in Jones County this week.

Tuesday, 53-year-old Tonya Landis of Warner Robins died in a 3:05 p.m. crash on Gray Highway north of Rock Creek Road, said Jones County sheriff’s Lt. Kenny Allen, a traffic fatality investigator.

Based on accounts from witnesses, the crash appears to have been weather-related, he said.

“It looks like she may have hydroplaned,” Allen said.

Landis was traveling north on Gray Highway in a 2014 Buick Enclave when she ran off the roadway, overturned and struck a tree, Allen said.

Landis may have been headed to a lake house in Putnam County at the time of the crash, Allen said.

She was pronounced dead on the scene.

Monday, 67-year-old Dessau Bennett of Whitesburg died in a 6:32 p.m. crash in the 3600 block of Upper River Road, Allen said.

Bennett was traveling north on Upper River Road when his 2003 Chevrolet S-10 ran off the roadway, struck a tree and overturned, Allen said. The weather was not a factor, he said.

Bennett was pronounced dead at the scene.

Bennett was thought to have been on his way home at the time of the crash, Allen said.

This story was originally published March 4, 2020 at 7:33 AM.