A Decatur County woman has been charged with vehicular homicide in connection with a fatal wreck last Friday night, Aug. 21.

The wreck happened at approximately 6 p.m. on Georgia 311 North, also known as East River Road, during a rainy period.

Merry April Turner, 25, of 421 Martin Road, Bainbridge, was traveling north on the highway when she lost control of her car and ran off the road’s eastern shoulder. Turner then over-corrected her steering, the car crossed back over the road and skidded into a ditch, where the car overturned onto its side and its roof struck a tree.

One of Turner’s passengers, 41-year-old Carroll Todd Givens of Whigham, died from injuries he received in the accident.

Following investigation of the accident, State Trooper Walt Landrum of the Georgia State Patrol arrested Turner. She was charged with driving under the influence (pending the results of a test of her blood alcohol level), vehicular homicide, having an open container of alcohol in the car and failure to maintain lane.

The accident is also being investigated by the GSP’s Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team.

Bainbridge police foil Kmart burglary

Bainbridge Public Safety officers’ quick response to an alarm going off just after midnight this past Sunday helped foil an apparent burglary attempt.

Inside the store’s outdoor garden center, officers found and arrested James Junior Thompson, 27, 1409 E. Broughton St., of Bainbridge, and charged him with burglary.

Arriving at the scene from the store’s north, Cpl. Marvin Knight saw a man entering the garden center after having climbed a wall and entered by climbing through a broken window. The suspect then noticed Officer John Mills on the store’s south side and began to flee toward a fence north of the store. Knight jumped out of his car and began chasing after the suspect on foot, yelling for him to stop. When Thompson attempted to scale the fence, Knight tackled him to the ground and handcuffed him.

BPS Chief Investigator Frank Green, Capt. Robert Humphrey and Officer Nigel Hurst also assisted in securing the store and making sure no one else was inside it.

Correction

The police article in the Saturday, Aug. 22, issue of The Post-Searchlight incorrectly stated the name of a deputy who helped find a man lost in the woods as “Justin Logue.” The article should have credited Capt. Justin Bedwell.