Names Released in Fatal Crash

The Georgia State Patrol has released the name of the man killed in a fatal head-on collision on Highway 76 East just after lunchtime Tuesday.

According to the Georgia State Patrol, sixty four year old Walter Johns Richards Jr. of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, was killed when the 2012 Chevrolet Impala he was driving towards Clayton crossed the centerline near New Hope Church Road for an unknown reason.

Richards Jr.’s car struck an eastbound 2005 Dodge Ram driven by sixty year old Keith Hunter Grewe of Salem, South Carolina.

Richards Jr was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, while Grewe and his passenger, eighteen year old Jessica Burns, also of Salem, were both airlifted to Mission Hospital in Asheville with upper extremity injuries.

In addition to the two helicopters, two ambulances and two fire departments, Rabun County Station 6 and Station 1, responded to the scene of the accident.