Two people were killed in separate vehicle accidents in Columbia County within a 24-hour period, and the first fatality resulted in a misdemeanor vehicular homicide charge, officials said.
On Wednesday at 1:34 p.m., motorcycle rider Brandon Joel Moseley, 36, of Harlem, died when his Honda motorcycle was struck by a Subaru Outback driven by Evan Matthew Rote of Colonial Road in Martinez, according to a Columbia County Sheriff’s report.
Moseley died at the scene and the cause of death was blunt force trauma, said Columbia County Coroner Vernon Collins.
Moseley was traveling north on Jimmie Dyess Parkway and Rote was driving south and turned left onto Belair Road when the two vehicles collided, the report indicates. The sheriff’s report stated Rote failed to yield to Moseley.
Rote was issued a citation at the scene, according to the report and a magistrate judge issued a warrant for Rote’s arrest on a charge of homicide by vehicle in the second degree, which carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Rote was arrested on the warrant and posted $2,200 and was released.
On Thursday morning, Michael Anthony Moorer, 42, of Augusta died in a two-car crash on Washington Road and Fioli Drive, according to Columbia County Sheriff’s spokesman Maj. Steve Morris. The intersection is located near the Goodwill store in Martinez.
Morris said Moorer was driving west in a 1998 Nissan Altima and swerved left into the turn lane to avoid running into stopped traffic. But Moorer nearly collided with a car that was turning left and he swerved again into oncoming traffic and struck a 2005 Pontiac G6 driven by Cheryl Leigh Henderson, 36, of Augusta, Morris said.
Moorer died at the scene of the head-on crash and Henderson was taken by ambulance to Augusta University Medical Center and treated for injuries that were considered non-life threatening, Morris said.
