Truck crash kills Fayette man

A Fayetteville man died after a pickup truck he was riding in left the road and struck a telephone pole Thursday night, sheriff’s officials said.

The crash on Kenwood Road claimed the life of Cona Evans, 60, who was a passenger in a Chevrolet S-10 pickup driven by Ricky A. Johnson, 49, also of Fayetteville, deputies said.

Johnson’s truck was eastbound on Kenwood when the vehicle went off the road and into a ditch around 8:44 p.m. Thursday, officials said. The truck then crossed Longview Road and struck the pole, officials said.

Johnson was seriously injured and remained hospitalized as of Saturday morning, officials said.

Neither Johnson nor Evans had work their seatbelts. For years, Georgia has exempted truck passengers from wearing seatbelts, but that changed with a new law that went into effect July 1 that requires all front-seat passengers in pickup trucks to wear a seatbelt, officials said.

The crash remains under investigation by the traffic enforcement unit of the sheriff’s office and charges are expected to be filed, officials said.

This is the second fatal motor vehicle crash in unincorporated Fayette County this year.