An Athens woman was killed at a bus stop late Sunday when she was run over by a man she knew, Athens-Clarke police said Monday.
The accident occurred shortly after 6 p.m. at the bus stop on Atlanta Highway near the intersection with Old Epps Bridge Road, police reported. The impact claimed the life of 45-year-old Shelby Cox.
The driver, Jeffery Scott Tate, 58, of Pine Hill Circle, Watkinsville, is charged with murder, hit and run, reckless driving and failure to maintain lane.
Police Lt. Jody Thompson said Monday that Tate was driving a rented black Toyota Highlander when the “vehicle drove directly toward her.”
He said that Cox was thrown onto the central barrier after the collision. Police and paramedics tried to save her life at the scene, but Cox succumbed to her injuries in a hospital in Athens.
“There was a relationship between her and the suspect,” Thompson said, adding that he could not comment on a possible motive.
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There was another person at the bus stop when Cox was hit, and police are trying to identify that person, he said.
Tate was identified as the driver early in the investigation and was tracked down at a home in Oconee County, Thompson said.
Athens-Clarke County Jail records show Tate was booked into the jail shortly before 4 a.m. Monday. Bail has not yet been set in the case.
Anyone with information can contact investigators at Officer Caleb Cameron at 762-400-7191 or Detective Blake Manning at 762-400-7396.
