Authorities identify man killed by Amtrak train in Hall County

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The Hall County Sheriff’s Office has identified the man killed over the weekend by an Amtrak train as 26-year-old Justin Keith Bennett of Gainesville. Bennett, who is believed to have been a member of Gainesville’s homeless community, died on September 14. The sheriff’s office says it took investigators several days to locate and notify his family.

According to a news release, Bennett was walking on the tracks away from an approaching train at Aviation Boulevard and Dorsey Street around 1:30 a.m. when the train struck him. The conductor sounded the horn and applied the brakes, but authorities said Bennett did not react. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

This is at least the third train-related death of a homeless person in Hall County since last year.

In February, 39-year-old Keith Lamont Bryant was struck and killed by a train near Dorsey Street and Industrial Boulevard. Authorities say Bryant was a member of Gainesville’s homeless community.

A year earlier, on February 2, 2023, 50-year-old Bonnie Carrillo, who was also homeless, was struck and critically injured while walking across the Dorsey Street tracks. She later died at the hospital.