GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A 17-year-old driving with four passengers after 1 a.m. ran from Lawrenceville police and crashed head-on in the wrong lanes of a Gwinnett County highway, killing a 33-year-old driver, according to arrest warrants.
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Deion Penland died at the scene on Highway 316 near Lawrenceville early Thursday.
Melvin Rivera Munive, of Norcross, faces nine warrants signed the same morning.
Officers tried to stop the silver Ford Focus Rivera Munive was driving and the car kept going, the warrants say. After Lawrenceville police used a PIT maneuver, the car turned east in the westbound lanes and hit Penland head-on.
Kimberly Grant has been Penland’s godmother since age 13.
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“Just always fun, dramatic, full of life, and always just kept a positive attitude,” Grant said. “Just couldn’t ask for a better person. Hardheaded, but a great person.”
Grant said several versions of that night have reached the family.
“How did this person get on the wrong side of the road?” Grant said.
Rivera Munive is charged with homicide by vehicle in the first degree, a felony, plus eight misdemeanors including reckless driving, wrong side of road and four counts of reckless conduct for the passengers.
A magistrate judge denied bond on the felony as a flight risk.
Montreze Sadler grew up with Penland and wants the chase examined, too.
“I think the police need to be held accountable just as well as whoever they was chasing,” Sadler said.
The Gwinnett County Police Department is investigating. The warrants do not say how long the chase lasted or what prompted the traffic stop. The Lawrenceville Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.
“The family just don’t deserve nothing to be hidden,” Grant said. “Everything should be out in the open and forthcoming with everything that went on.”
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