Marietta man charged with first-degree vehicular homicide

By Mark Woolsey

[The Cobb County Courier has a policy of withholding or redacting the name of suspects unless and until the person is convicted in a court of law or enters a plea of guilty. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty, and the internet has no effective way of removing reports of arrest if the person is exonerated.

We do make exceptions in high-profile cases or charges against public officials where exoneration is likely to be as widely publicized as the initial arrest

This case meets the “high profile case” exception]

According to police, a Marietta man led the Georgia State Patrol in a high-speed chase that resulted in the death of a woman standing by a parked car in a gas station.

The Georgia State Patrol says 26-year-old Fre’shun Tyai White of Marietta was speeding west on I-20 in Fulton County Monday afternoon when a trooper tried to stop him. White sped away, crossed all lanes of I-20, exited onto a ramp at the Boulevard exit, then recklessly got back onto the interstate, nearly causing a wreck.

GSP says the first trooper couldn’t catch up to White and exited onto Boulevard, but a second gave chase. Authorities say White exited at Hill St., lost control and sped across Hill. He entered a gas station parking lot and crashed into a parked car.

A woman standing by the parked car was fatally injured and has been identified as Chatanna Ohiyesha Patterson, 51. White, a passenger in his car and the driver of the parked car were taken to Grady hospital with serious injuries.

Fre’shun White has been charged with Vehicular Homicide 1st Degree and Serious Injury by Vehicle along with other related charges, says GSP. Authorities say he was driving 90 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone when the first trooper tried to stop him.