One child was killed, and two others were seriously hurt in an accident on Highway 27 atop Taylor’s Ridge in neighboring Chattooga County, Georgia Tuesday night around 8:30.

According to Sergeant Tommy Sturdivent who is with the Georgia State Patrol’s Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team – a 2006 Kia Spectra that was traveling northbound crested Taylor’s Ridge and then went off the right hand side of the road in a curve.

That driver reportedly managed to steer the vehicle back onto the roadway, but crossed the centerline and struck a southbound 1999 Nissan Quest Van that was in the outside lane.

Afterwards the Kia continued down the ridge and flipped twice, ejecting the two children.

Eleven year old Kendrick Hines of Summerville was pronounced dead at the scene by Coroner Earle Rainwater; the other was air-lifted to Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga by LifeForce Helicopter. The driver and all of the passengers in the Nissan Quest Van were transported to Floyd Medical Center – where they were treated and released, with the exception of one child, who was air-lifted from Floyd to Eggleston Children’s Hospital in Atlanta suffering a skull fracture.

The driver of the Kia Spectra, identified as Courtney Hines of Summerville, was transported to Redmond Regional Medical Center in Rome for treatment. 

Reportedly, the children in the Kia were not restrained, and charges are pending.

Kendrick Hines was a student at Massey Elementary School.

(WRGA/www.wrgarome.com)