Charges filed after Dougherty County wreck claims one life

ALBANY — A 36-year-old woman was killed in a wreck on Moultrie Road on Wednesday, which resulted in the driver of the other vehicle being arrested.

A shift report on the incident said the accident happened at 12:41 p.m. on the 2300 block of Moultrie Road. The driver of one of the vehicles involved, identified by Dougherty County Police Department officials as Sherrie Truelove, 66, failed to maintain her lane and struck another vehicle that was occupied by Maria Cruz Rodriguez, 36, and two other individuals.

Rodriguez succumbed to her injuries and Truelove was arrested, the report said.

Lt. David McVey said Truelove was driving north on Moultrie into Albany when she swerved into the south lane and hit the other vehicle, which ran off the road, overcorrected and barreled — leading Rodriguez to be ejected and later be pronounced dead at the scene.

McVey said the two other individuals traveling with Rodriguez, an adult and a child, were taken to Phoebe with injuries that were not life-threatening.

“She (Truelove) stated she fell asleep and drifted over,” McVey said.

The lieutenant said Truelove has been charged with second-degree vehicular homicide and failure to maintain lane, with other charges pending. He added that there were several witnesses on the scene, who said Truelove did drift into the other lane.

An inmate search for Truelove on Thursday morning showed that her failure to maintain lane charge held a $100 bond.