Wrong way driver dies in crash on I-985

GAINESVILLE - A motorist traveling the wrong way as he attempted to get on I-985 this Tuesday morning was killed in a four-vehicle crash.

The Georgia State Patrol said it appears Raymond Sanford Reed, 80, of Gainesville attempted to get on I-985 by going southbound on the northbound exit ramp at Jesse Jewell Parkway.

Investigators said as Reed entered the northbound lanes of the highway in the wrong direction his vehicle was hit by a Ford F150 pick-up truck being driven by Cresencio Martinez-Trejo, 54, of Gainesville. Martinez-Trejo's truck was then struck from behind by a Honda Civic being driven by Keisha Wheeler, 32, from Auburn, according to troopers. In addition, Reed's vehicle was brushed by a tractor trailer that was trying to avoid the accident.

Martinez-Trejo, Wheeler and two children in Wheeler's vehicle were taken to Northeast Georgia Medical Center, treated and released. The driver of the rig was not injured.

The accident occurred just after 6:30 a.m. Northbound lanes of I-985 were closed for several hours while the accident investigation was conducted.