Fatal wreck case to go to grand jury
Rep. Trey Kelley, Cedartown police chief named in GSP investigation report.
CEDARTOWN — A delay in emergency care in a case involving Rep. Trey Kelley and Cedartown Police Chief Jamie Newsome could have led to a man’s death, according to a coroner’s report.
A grand jury will determine if criminal charges will be brought in the case resulting from the September 2019 hit-and-run that killed 38-year-old Eric Keais.
In a written statement, Tallapoosa Circuit District Attorney Jack Browning said the Georgia State Patrol recently turned over to his office the files from the completed investigation.
“The investigation, like many other fatality investigations, was lengthy,
involving numerous witness interviews and evidence gathered from various agencies and other entities,” Browning said. “This commonly slows and adds to the time necessary to complete such an investigation.”
Keais, who was riding a bicycle, was struck and killed on the night of Sept. 11, 2019, on Main Street just north of Cedartown.
Polk County Coroner Tony Brazier listed the cause on the death certificate as homicide by hit and run. His report stated that Keais was struck by a vehicle driven by Ralph “Ryan” Dover III.
“Our office has already begun the process of reviewing the investigation to determine what and who will be charged for the incident that resulted in Mr. Keais’s tragic death,” Browning said.
“I anticipate bringing those charges to a Polk County grand jury soon in the coming weeks,” his statement continued. “On behalf of myself and the District Attorney’s Office, our deepest condolences go out to Mr. Keais’s family for their tragic loss.”
The coroner’s report stated Dover and Kelley were waiting across the street from the incident location in the Dollar General parking lot in Cedartown after the incident happened.
Timeline
Reports generated by the coroner state Keais was struck at 8:20 p.m., but the first police on the scene calling for ambulance and fire service didn’t happen until 9:26 p.m.
The report stated that GSP investigators noted “that there had not only been a hit and run aspect to this (Motor Vehicle Accident/ Fatality) but there was a breach in the dispatch of assistance to our victim, Eric C. Keais.”
According to reports provided by the coroner’s office:
After Dover struck Keais with his vehicle, he left the scene just north of Frances Drive and North Main Street. He drove his damaged vehicle eight-tenths of a mile to a local business, where he then called Kelley, who is an attorney.
Dover wanted Kelley to come down to where he had parked and said “he had struck something on North Main Street while driving southbound.”
When asked about the timeline of events, Kelley stated that, to the best of his recollection, he received a phone call from Dover sometime after 8:30 p.m. and that he arrived between 8:45 to 8:50 p.m. They then returned to the spot on North Main Street across the roadway in the Dollar General Market parking lot.
The statement aligns with the coroner’s report that Kelley inspected the car before they left the location where Dover had parked.
Keais was later found in the ditch across from the store.
Prior to that, Kelley called Cedartown
Police Chief Jamie Newsome to send an officer out to see what Dover had hit. Newsome contacted Sgt. Josh Turner on his phone via 911’s radio system.
During the time between when Keais was struck and when help arrived, an hour and four minutes passed.
Recordings from 911 provided to the Polk Standard Journal through an open records request show that Newsome called for Turner to call him at around 9:17 p.m. It was 9:22 p.m. before Turner arrived on the scene and began searching.
Calling for assistance
Sgt. Turner found Keais’ body in the ditch some 75 to 100 feet away from the bicycle in the roadway, according to Brazier. It was 9:28 p.m. before EMS and fire services were called to the scene by 911.
Once dispatched, it only took
EMS around two minutes to arrive.
A medical airlift was requested to transport Keais. But before it could lift off, emergency personnel were struggling to bring him back and canceled the inbound helicopter.
“By now it is obvious that our victim had been lying in the ditch for at least an hour, which probably affected his condition and ultimate ability to survive his injuries,” the coroner’s report stated.
The report continues with an explanation: “The golden hour dictates that the sooner that a trauma patient’s mortality is impacted by a trauma center, the greater the chances are that trauma patients can make a complete recovery. The sooner the victim gets into a trauma center, the better the outcome for that victim.”
“I feel that our victim was cheated and denied that dignity of care and subsequently could have survived his injuries,” the coroner stated. “The lapse in time denied him that care and denied him a chance at living.”
Keais was pronounced dead at 10:15 p.m. that night at the hospital.
According to the additional information provided with the death certificate, the report specifically lists Dover, Kelley and Newsome by name as being involved in the incident.
‘Nothing that indicated a life or death situation’
Newsome declined to provide a statement, citing the investigation’s status as still open.
For his part, Kelley provided a written statement.
“It is heartbreaking that our community has experienced a tragedy like this,” Kelley stated. “Our thoughts and our prayers go out to the victim and the families involved. After getting messages from so many, I wanted to take the time to give my perspective.”
It continued with Kelley’s explanation of the events.
“During the night of September 11, 2019, I received a call from a Polk County citizen who I had seen earlier in the night at the Polk County Fair and is well-known to have limited mental capacity. He was agitated and upset because he had been involved in an accident and thought he may have hit an animal,” Kelley stated.
He said he attempted to calm down Dover but decided to go “assess the situation and figure out what had happened. So, I got dressed, put my boots back on, and got in my truck.”
When he got there, Kelley said, he didn’t realize there was another person involved in the incident.
“After arriving and driving up and down the road, I saw nothing that indicated a life or death situation,” he stated. “But when I saw a bike located in the ditch off the right side of the roadway, I felt the right thing to do was to call the police and that is what I did.”
“At that time, I still did not know another human being was involved. I fully cooperated with law enforcement at the scene and in the ongoing investigation as a witness and will continue to do so.”
The City of Cedartown later provided the following statement as well:
“The City of Cedartown is aware of an incident that occurred on September 11, 2019, which resulted in the tragic passing of Eric Keais. Our deepest sympathies and condolences go out to Mr. Keais’s family. As with any traffic event of this magnitude, the incident was thoroughly and independently investigated by the Georgia State Patrol. The GSP investigation took several months, which is not unusual in a case like this one. The investigation was completed with the full cooperation of the Cedartown Police Department.”
It continued and concluded with “Our understanding is that the Georgia State Patrol’s Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team report has been submitted to the District Attorney’s office and that any potential prosecution will be taken to grand jury in the coming weeks.”
“Because this is an ongoing criminal case, the City cannot comment further on this matter, other than to reiterate our belief in due process of law and to express our faith in the officials in the District Attorney’s office who would ultimately make decisions regarding the prosecution.”
“I feel that our victim was cheated and denied that dignity of care and subsequently could have survived his injuries. The lapse in time denied him that care and denied him a chance at living,” Polk County Coroner Tony brazier in a report.