An Augusta boy was tragically killed on New Year’s Day when the drunk driver behind the wheel of his vehicle struck the rear of a tow truck on Interstate 520, authorities said.
Robert Brown Jr., 3, was not in a child safety seat and was pinned to the floorboard of the Cadillac Escalade after the wreck. The child was found unresponsive when first responders extracted him. He was pronounced dead on the scene, Coroner Mark Bowen said. A 7-year-old child was also in the car, but was not injured.
The driver, 31-year-old Joseph Wiggins, was drunk in the wreck and had the victim in the rear passenger seat without proper child restraints, authorities said. A front seat passenger, believed to be the boy’s mother, Regina Brown, sustained serious injuries and remained at the hospital in a coma Tuesday, according to relatives.
Wiggins was operating a silver 2006 Cadillac Escalade when he struck a loaded tow truck in the far right lane on the westbound lane of Interstate 520 near mile marker 11. Authorities found an open container of alcohol in the Cadillac.
“The driver was determined to be DUI and sustained only minor injuries,” a Georgia State Patrol spokesperson said. “Another 7-year-old male juvenile was also in the vehicle and sustained no injuries.”
Wiggins faces a long list of charges, including homicide by vehicle, serious injury by vehicle, DUI, reckless driving, open container of liquor, no seat belt, failure to maintain lane, no child safety restraint for child under 8, DUI with passenger under 14 x2, and unlawfully passing a stationary emergency vehicle. He is being held at the Charles B. Webster Detention Center.
The driver has a long history of speeding tickets in Richmond County, at least four in the last decade, as well as charges for driving while license suspended, failure to stop at a stop sign and failure to wear a seatbelt.
