Macon man pleads guilty to vehicular homicide in wreck that killed DoorDash driver
A Macon man who prosecutors say was driving drunk in Peach County the night he struck a DoorDash driver’s small SUV from behind, killing the deliveryman, pleaded guilty to first-degree vehicular homicide on Aug. 22.
Devon Anthony Burton, 33, was sentenced to six years in state prison and four more on probation in the November 2020 crash that killed Ralph Joseph Tucker III, of Warner Robins.
The crash happened along Georgia Highway 49 the night of Nov. 1 that year.
Officials said Tucker, 72, who had recently begun delivering food orders, pulled over in his Honda CR-V along the highway and was struck from behind by Burton’s car.
Prosecutors said Burton, who entered a negotiated plea, admitted drinking that night. Officials said Burton’s blood-alcohol level was tested in the hours after the crash, registering .270, more than three times the legal limit to drive.
Tucker’s family consented to the plea offer Burton accepted, which was said to be in line with offers in similar cases across the circuit.
Tucker, a native Kansan, was a grandfather who had been married for 55 years. According to his obituary, he was a fan of the Denver Broncos and loved dogs, poker, singing and driving.
Burton was ordered by Peach Superior Court Judge Connie L. Williford to refrain from drinking alcohol upon his release from prison.
The judge also ordered Burton — who could have faced 15 years behind bars had he gone to trial and been sentenced to the maximum — to perform community service by spreading word about the ills of drunken driving.
“When individuals choose to become impaired and unsafe drivers and harm others ... they will be charged and prosecuted,” Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney Anita Reynolds Howard said in a statement last week.
This story was originally published August 23, 2022 at 3:27 PM.