Fatal Church Van Wreck: Driver Charged with Vehicular Homicide

Barry Thomas Clark of Hartwell, Georgia, is charged with first-degree vehicular homicide in the wreck that killed 15-year-old Teddy Bone.Photo byHabersham County Sheriff's Office

A Hartwell man has been charged with vehicular homicide in the death of a 15-year-old boy who died from injuries sustained in a church van wreck, the Georgia State Patrol says.

GSP confirmed the news Friday that 64-year-old Barry Thomas Clark has been charged in the death of Teddy Bone of Eastanollee.

Bone was a passenger in a van from River Point Community Church in Demorest that was struck by a Toyota 4Runner at the intersection of GA 365 South and Demorest-Mt. Airy Highway. Troopers say Clark was driving the SUV that crashed into the van on June 29.

Authorities initially charged Clark with DUI, failure to obey a traffic control device, and causing serious injury by vehicle. That charge was upgraded to 1st-degree vehicular homicide after Bone’s death on July 3.

Clark, who was out of jail on a $24,225 bond following his initial arrest, turned himself into the Habersham County Detention Center on July 3 and was re-arrested on the vehicular homicide charge. He was booked and later released that same day on a $30,000 bond.

The State Patrol has not said whether the DUI charge is related to drugs or alcohol. Clark was tested for both, but according to a State Patrol spokesperson, those results have not been returned.

The Patrol’s Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team (SCRT) is still investigating the wreck. GSP Public Information Officer Courtney Lund says more charges may be filed.