Georgia Bill Crashes into Hit-and-Run Homicide Loophole

By Alison Gonzalez

Published on March 11, 2008

The bill, proposed by Sen. Johnny Grant, is designed to close a major loophole in current laws involving land and water hit-and-run incidents. Under current law, the penalties for motorists and boaters involved in hit-and-runs vary, depending on when the victim dies.

If the victim does not die right away, the driver faces a felony homicide charge for failing to provide aid. However, drivers who flee the scene after the victim dies on impact face misdemeanor hit-and-run charges.

The idea behind the law: dead people are not able to receive aid; therefore, rendering aid would be useless.

Grant’s new bill, labeled SB 529, would end the hit-and-run technicality, ensuring that every hit-and-run driver is charged with first degree vehicular homicide, regardless of how fast the victim dies.

The bill stems from a 2006 case where Mark Entrekin crashed his boat into a boat operated by Mark Baxter, who died instantly. Entrekin, who sped off, was sentenced to 16 years in prison. However, the court threw out the felony first-degree homicide by vehicle charge because Baxter died immediately, making it useless to render aid.

The proposed bill passed the Senate Judiciary Committee and is now awaiting Senate consideration.

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