Charges Still Pending in Accident That Killed Smyrna Woman

A representative from Georgia State Patrol said charges are still pending as officers continue to investigate a

Michelle Chinnis, 35, of Smyrna was driving her Nissan Sentra on a sales call with her co-worker Tracy Downer, 44, of Atlanta when the car was struck on the driver’s side by a tractor trailer. Some witnesses have reported that .

Chinnis died after being extricated from the vehicle and Downer was pronounced dead at the scene.

Georgia State Patrol Spokesman Gordy Wright said charges won’t be filed until GSP’s Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team completes its investigation.

“The SCRT investigations are not quick,” he said. “They can take several months because they’re a specialized team and simply by the caseload. We’ve got five teams statewide that handle fatal crashes where there is the possibility that charges could be filed. They’re going to do in-depth investigations, mapping, in-depth witness interviews, scale drawings, animation, criminal history checks, driver history checks. When the final report is put together they can range anywhere from 75, 80 pages up to several hundred pages.”

Wright said SCRT investigates “the worst of the worst” and that it takes on about 50 cases a year.

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