BALDWIN, Ga. — Authorities have released the name of a woman killed Tuesday in a head-on collision with a tractor-trailer in Baldwin. 41-year-old Ashlie Robertson of Cornelia died in the crash, according to Habersham County Coroner Kasey McEntire.
Emergency crews were dispatched to the scene on Willingham Avenue (Gainesville Highway), just north of Dallas Drive, around 10:15 a.m. on Aug. 18.
According to the Georgia State Patrol crash report, Robertson was driving a 2001 Chevrolet Tahoe south on Willingham Avenue when she crossed the centerline. The Tahoe ran into the path of a northbound 2017 Mack tractor-trailer and tanker owned by Fieldale Farms of Baldwin, which witnesses described as a feed truck.
The truck, driven by 63-year-old Billy Wayne Owenby of Cleveland, was negotiating a right-hand curve. Troopers said Owenby attempted to avoid the collision by “sounding his air horn and steering his vehicle to the right shoulder.” The truck’s right side struck a guardrail before the Tahoe collided head-on with it in the northbound lane.
The impact caused the Tahoe to rotate counterclockwise before coming to an uncontrolled stop, blocking the southbound lane. The tractor-trailer stopped near the point of impact, which E-911 dispatchers said was near the Baldwin Fire Department.
Robertson was trapped in the wreckage. First responders extricated her from the Tahoe, and McEntire pronounced her dead at the scene. Owenby was the only person in the truck. According to the crash report, he was not transported for medical treatment.
The Georgia State Patrol investigated the crash.
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