Suspect in fatal crash booked on multiple charges

Levi Russell Brooks, 18, 1035 Hancock Bridge Road, Winder, is facing three counts of homicide by vehicle, a charge of serious injury by vehicle and related traffic charges.

Three people were killed in the head-on collision in Barrow County on Hwy. 11 South near Watson Road.

According to the investigator’s report, Brooks was attempting to pass a tractor trailer in a no-passing zone when the accident occurred.

Brooks’ vehicle, a Dodge Neon, struck a Mercury Marquis driven by Wilbur Franklin Taylor, 71, of Monroe. Taylor and his wife Dorothy were killed in the crash. Another passenger, Gerald D. Whitlow, 66, of Winder survived but sustained serious injuries.

Whitlow spent 35 days in a coma at Grady Memorial Hospital. As a result of the accident, Whitlow has undergone several surgeries and requires constant care, according to the report.

The passenger in Brooks’ vehicle, Derek Wade Banks, 21, was also killed.