The mother of a Cumming teenager says she doesn’t know how her daughter will deal with the aftermath of a Feb. 23 wreck that claimed the life of another teen and injured four other people.
Judy Manley’s daughter, Kristin Robinson, was driving the vehicle that collided with an oncoming car on Coltrane Road. Tyler Hutchison, 18, of Dawsonville, who was riding with Robinson, died after he was thrown from the vehicle.
“They’d known each other their whole lives, but had only been dating about a year,” Manley said of her daughter and Hutchison.
Manley returned to the scene of the collision Thursday. A day earlier she and Robinson, 19, tied roses and a stuffed animal on a cross Hutchison’s friends had placed in his memory.
“Kristin’s holding up, but the guilt she feels worries me,” Manley said. “I know once the services are over, and we all try to get back to our lives, I’m going to have to get her some help to cope with the guilt.”
Services for Hutchison, a Forsyth County native who lived most of his life in Dawson County, were held Saturday at Back to the Word in Dawsonville.
No charges have been filed. The Georgia State Patrol is still investigating the wreck, a spokeswoman with the patrol’s Cumming post said Monday.
“It could be a while before we know anything,” she said.
The Hutchison family could not be reached for comment.
Authorities said it appeared Robinson crossed the centerline in a curve on Coltrane, overcorrected and then swerved to miss some mailboxes.
“Kristin said the last thing she remembered was Tyler telling her to watch out for the mailboxes,” Manley said.
The vehicle then crossed the centerline again and struck an oncoming car driven by Christina Glaze, 22, of Gainesville.
Glaze and her toddler son were taken to the hospital for evaluation, authorities have said.
Attempts to reach the Glaze family were not successful.
In a strange twist, it appears Glaze is related to Hutchison and Robinson’s other passenger, 18-year-old Christopher Glaze.
According to Manley, Hutchison and Christopher Glaze are cousins. Christina Glaze is also their cousin.
“This is such a tight-knit area. Just about everyone is somehow related to almost everyone on this road,” said Manley, who also lives off Coltrane.
The wreck marks Dawson County’s first traffic-related death of 2009. There were 10 traffic-related deaths in 2008.
Authorities have said Hutchison was not wearing a seat belt. Neither were nearly half of those killed last year.
Hutchison attended Dawson County High School and was preceded in death by his mother, Lisa Hutchison.
Survivors include his father, Randy Hutchison of Dawsonville; brothers, Cody Hutchison of Dawsonville and Shane Taylor of Tennessee; grandmother, Joyce Hutchison of Dawsonville. Several aunts, uncles and other relatives also survive.
In lieu of flowers the family asked that donations be made toward final expenses.
E-mail Michele Hester at michele@dawsonnews.com.