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Young father dead, toddler injured after crash with Clayton County police officer

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A Clayton County police officer is on administrative leave as Georgia State Patrol investigates a crash that left a 21-year-old dead and his toddler injured.

The crash happened Friday morning on Georgia Highway 85.

GSP confirmed that 21-year-old Kelvontae Zikel Banks died at Grady Memorial Hospital. His 1-year-old son was taken to to Children’s Healthcare Of Atlanta at Egleston.

“It shouldn’t have happened,” Banks’ father Mr. Butler told Channel 2′s Tom Jones.

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Butler said he can’t understand why the Clayton County Officer didn’t have his lights and sirens on responding to a call.

“You give somebody a warning or something. You just don’t speed to a call to where the call you may not get to. He never made it to that call either.”

Clayton County police identified the officer as Cameron Pack. Police said that Pack was headed to help other officers who responded to multiple entering auto thefts calls at the Ice Bar.

GSP said Pack told them he did not have his emergency equipment on. Packs said Banks turned in front of him and that is when the cars collided.

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Before he was taken to Grady, Pack told GSP he tried to avoid the collision, but the impact forced the officer off the roadway to the right.

The officer said his car went down a small hill into an empty parking lot and hit the front of a building. Banks’ car spun around from the impact of the crash.

Butler said his son was turning into the KFC to pick up his girlfriend with their son. Banks’ mother said his girlfriend saw the collision as she stood up to go home.

“And the police came out of nowhere and took him down the street,” she said.

Pack has been with the Clayton County Police Department for 10.5 months. The department put him on administrative leave effective immediately.

The crash remains under investigation.

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