LAGRANGE, Ga. — Two former college athletes were killed in a car crash near LaGrange Sunday morning, according to the Troup County coroner.
Philip Lutzenkirchen, 23, and Joseph Ian Davis, 22, died when their car flipped several times.
Lutzenkirchen, from Marietta, was a former Lassiter and Auburn football player. Davis, from Dunwoody, was a former Dunwoody and Georgia baseball player.
The wreck happened around 3 a.m., about 10 miles south of LaGrange.
Two others, Elizabeth Ann Seaton Craig, 22, from Eatonton, Georgia and Christian Tanner Case, 20, from Dadeville, Alabama, were injured in the crash.
Craig and Case were taken to West Georgia Medical Center.
According to the Georgia State Patrol, Davis was driving the Chevrolet Tahoe along Upper Big Springs Road and failed to stop at a stop sign. Police say the vehicle then traveled about 450 feet out of control. It went through a church yard and overturned several times before coming to rest on its roof.
Both Lutzenkirchen and Craig, who were in the back seat, were ejected from the vehicle.
Lutzenkirchen, who was one of the more popular players in recent school history, had his senior season cut short when he suffered a hip injury in 2012. He had surgery Oct. 24. Earlier in his career he helped the Tigers win the BCS national title 2010.
"Philip Lutzenkirchen was what every parent aspires their son to be," former Auburn coach Gene Chizik said in a statement released through the school. "He was compassionate, determined, honorable and full of love, integrity and respect. In 27 years of coaching, I have come across what I would consider to be a few 'rare' young men. Phillip was certainly one of those 'rare' ones. He truly lived his life for other people and always found time to give to others."
The Auburn Family mourns the loss of our friend Philip Lutzenkirchen (1991-2014). He'll forever live in our hearts. pic.twitter.com/VXXW2ePzSA
— Auburn Tigers (@AuburnTigers) June 29, 2014Davis was a junior college transfer to Georgia's Baseball team from USC Sumter.
Georgia's baseball coach Scott Stricklin tweeted his condolences for the Davis family Sunday afternoon:
WSBTV
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/SDWNSXQGMBDQJBUEVTYE7ZDTM4.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/S2ALBKRKV5GGHPVG6GAYSC4MVA.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/V66IBQ6NUJC4ROUMVQR6KWCZH4.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/OV6IQODWYRAGXJA7ABBUIG7DXE.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/PG47OAJKSRCEFLLY6GL6NDESJA.jpeg)