Mother hit, killed by tractor-trailer while helping sick daughter on metro Atlanta highway

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A metro Atlanta woman is dead and her child is in the hospital after she and her car were hit by a swerving tractor-trailer, according to police.

Clayton County police say 911 dispatchers were alerted to a person possibly hit by a vehicle on I-675 northbound and Anvil Block Road just before 10:30 p.m. Thursday night.

The family says the woman’s daughter got sick while they were driving, so the mother got out of the car and was tending to her when she was hit.

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Witnesses say they could see the tractor-trailer swerving in and out of lanes before hitting the woman.

Police say that after hitting the woman, the driver tried to get control of the vehicle back, but jackknifed across all of the northbound lanes.

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The woman, who has been identified as Jamecca Parris, 31, was pronounced dead on the scene. Her passenger, a child, was taken to a local hospital for treatment of injuries. The child had minor injuries.

The driver of the tractor-trailer, identified as John Nichols, 59, was arrested and charged with vehicular homicide and failure to maintain lane. Nichols is from Florida, according to police.

He is being held in the Clayton County Jail.

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