Fatal head-on car crash still under investigation

Milledgeville Police are still working to determine the cause of a Friday night car crash, which left a teenager dead and three others injured. 

Chelsa Hurt, 17, of Milledgeville, was a passenger in a 2011 Mazda 3i that crossed the centerline into the path of an oncoming Jeep Wrangler. 

“It’s a very active and open investigation,” said Maj. Linc Boyer, Milledgeville Police Road Patrol Commander. 

Officers were dispatched to the 200 block of Lakeside Drive shortly at 10 p.m. last Friday. The road runs through the Carrington Woods subdivision and has a residential speed limit of 25 mph. “Sgt. Thomas Smith, he’s our crash investigator; he’s still working and doing stuff to determine the exact speed,” Boyer said.

The driver of the Mazda, 23-year-old Contavious Phelps, of Milledgeville, was airlifted to a Macon hospital, where he remains in stable condition. As of Monday afternoon, investigators had not been able to speak with Phelps.

According to police, the driver of the Jeep, 41-year-old Joanna Smith, and a juvenile passenger suffered only minor injuries. 

The victim was a senior at Baldwin High School Maj. Boyer said he informed school officials over the weekend. 

In a statement to the Union-Recorder, school officials described Hurt as “a shining light within our school and classrooms, Chelsa will be missed by one and all, and we are praying for her family, friends, teachers, classmates in this difficult time.”