What led to fatal crash at Macon church? Georgia troopers, coroner investigate

A man died after he was chased by police and crashed into a west Macon church Sunday, according to Georgia State Patrol and the Bibb County Coroner’s Office.

The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office started chasing a white Infiniti Q70 luxury sedan on Napier Avenue near Fairmont Avenue Sunday morning, according to Lt. Edward Starling of GSP’s public information office.

Deputies ended the pursuit “after losing sight of the Infiniti as it went east on Napier Avenue,” Starling said.

Then multiple people called 911 to report a white Infiniti crashed into Abundant Word of Grace Church of God in Christ at 3396 Napier Avenue, state troopers said.

It was the same car being chased by deputies.

The driver “ran about 50 yards” from the crash, then “collapsed and died at the scene,” Coroner Leon Jones said.

Larry Sellers Jr., 37, was identified as the driver, Jones said.

Cause of death

Sellers had no visible injuries and his cause of death was unclear Tuesday, according to Jones. His lack of injuries initially made it difficult to investigate.

“(Investigators) had nothing to work with,” Jones said. “I didn’t see any trauma from the outside.”

An airbag was deployed when it crashed, and Jones believed Sellers had heart trauma.

His body was expected to undergo an autopsy Wednesday, to determine the extent of his injuries, according to Jones.

It didn’t appear that Sellers intentionally crashed into the church, Jones said.

“He lost control of that car,” Jones said. “I’m basing this on my experience of 67 years with (emergency medical services) and the coroner’s office, because I’ve seen it before.”

GSP was still investigating the incident Tuesday afternoon. The sheriff’s office declined The Telegraph’s request for comment.

Church responds

The wreck made a large hole in a brick wall and damaged much of the church’s interior, according to a video on Facebook by Bru Williams, a member of the church.

A hallway was filled with rubble, and wooden walls were torn down near a chapel inside the church, the video showed.

The church sought God for “guidance for the next steps,” it said on Facebook Sunday at 9:40 a.m.

Church leaders expect to “move forward with faith and perserverance,” the Facebook post said.

“So when you see Abundant Word of Grace moving forward... it is because God’s love compels us to be relentless in spreading the Gospel, even through pain, even through tragedy,” Pastor Hilliard Calvin Arline IV said in a video on Facebook Monday evening.

Sellers was “a father (and) a friend,” Arline said.