A single-car accident in Gwinnett County, from which the driver fled the scene, left a SCAD-Atlanta fashion student dead and four other people injured April 11.
The student, identified by the Gwinnett County Police Department as 24-year-old Mario Tucker, of Loganville, was pronounced dead at the scene after he was thrown from a 2003 Ford Expedition during the crash.
The SUV, according to the release, was headed West on Paper Mill Road in unincorporated Lawrenceville shortly before 4 a.m., when the driver lost control in an attempt to negotiate a curve. Authorities said the SUV then flipped and slid sideways across both lanes before hitting a guardrail and a utility pole, ejecting Tucker and two others from the backseat.
Two passengers remained in the vehicle during the wreck, including the front passenger who had to be removed by rescuers.
All four survivors, whom authorities have not identified, were taken to Gwinnett Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries, according to a Gwinnett police news release. Authorities determined that none of the occupants were wearing seatbelts.
The driver of the SUV, identified as 25-year-old Alexander Prim, of Lawrenceville, fled the scene on foot, but turned himself in to sheriff’s deputies at the Gwinnett County Detention Center on April 13, according to the release. He is charged with felony homicide by vehicle, felony hit-and-run and failure to maintain a lane, a misdemeanor.
In a statement released April 14, SCAD-Atlanta Vice President P.J. Johnson announced Tucker’s passing to the SCAD community, and extended condolences to the second-year student’s family and friends.
According to the statement, a viewing for Tucker will be held Wednesday, April 15, from 2-4 p.m., and the funeral will be held Thursday, April 16 at noon. Both services will take place at Tom M. Wages Funeral Services, located at 120 Scenic Highway, Lawrenceville, Ga., 30345.