Father of 3 killed in crash as he waited for traffic light

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Father of 3 killed in crash as he waited for traffic light

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Two brothers remain in the

Fayette County jail after a magistrate denied them bail on multiple felony

charges during a hearing Tuesday.

Melvin Edward Mitchell, 22,

of Atlanta, and Marvin Edwin Mitchell, 22, of Jonesboro, face felony murder

charges for the Sunday night death of Union City veterinarian Jason Andrew

Trotman, who had just finished a shift at the Southern Crescent Animal

Hospital in Fayetteville.

The two suspects fled a pursuing

Fayetteville police officer after robbing the Fayetteville Ingles supermarket

at gunpoint late Sunday night, police said. The chase reached speeds of

110 miles per hour moments before their vehicle struck and killed Trotman,

who was waiting for the traffic light to change at the intersection of

North Jeff Davis Drive and Ga. Highway 85, police said.

The officer paced their vehicle

at 110 mph on North Jeff Davis Drive, according to warrants filed by the

Fayetteville Police Department. The speed limit in that area is 35 mph.

The Mitchells, who are twin

brothers, also face charges of armed robbery, possession of a firearm

during the commission of a crime and false imprisonment.

Melvin Mitchell, who was identified

to elude a police officer, speeding, failure to obey a traffic control

device, failure to maintain lane, leaving the scene of an auto accident

and reckless driving.

The accident killed Trotman

as the father of three was driving home after voluntarily working a longer

shift at the 24-hour animal clinic. The Mitchells' Oldsmobile Alero struck

Trotman's Nissan Pathfinder on the driver's side, causing it to roll over,

according to Fayetteville police.

The accident is being investigated

Mitchell.

After the crash, both suspects

tried to get away on foot but were apprehended by officers moments later,

said Lt. Tom Kirkbride of the Fayetteville Police Department.

Trotman was waiting for the

light to turn green so he could drive north on Ga. Highway 314, Kirkbride

added.

No one was seriously injured

during the holdup at Ingles, police said.

Police recovered approximately

$6,500 that was taken in the robbery when the masked suspects entered

the store, brandishing weapons and ordering employees around the store,

Kirkbride said. As the pair fled the store, a witness in the parking lot

passed a description of their car on to police, Kirkbride said.

A Fayetteville officer spotted

the vehicle, a red 1999 Oldsmobile Alero, as it ran the red light at the

intersection of Ga. Highway 92 and Jimmie Mayfield Avenue, Kirkbride said.

The officer pursued the vehicle north on Jimmie Mayfield but later slowed

down after reaching "excessive speed," Kirkbride said.

The officer was close enough

to witness the accident when it occurred, Kirkbride added.

One of the suspects was treated

for minor injuries at Fayette Community Hospital before he was booked

at the Fayette County Jail, Kirkbride said.

It is a policy of the Fayetteville

Police Department to allow vehicle pursuits based on the judgment of the

individual officer, Kirkbride said, noting that policy is in line with

national police standards.

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