ATHENS, Ga. — Nearly three months after the high-speed wreck that killed a University of Georgia football player and an athletic staffer, 11Alive has obtained copies of bodycam footage and interviews that officers conducted during the course of their investigation.
Devin Willock, a 20-year-old offensive lineman, and Chandler LeCroy, a 24-year-old recruiting analyst, were killed in the Jan. 15 accident hours after the team's national championship parade. Two other passengers in the vehicle survived.
Police determined that LeCroy, who drove a university-rented Ford Expedition SUV while intoxicated, was racing former UGA defensive lineman and top NFL prospect Jalen Carter from a downtown bar to an Athens Waffle House when the wreck occurred.
11Alive obtained the nearly eight hours of footage through an open records request. Police in Athens, Georgia, released the footage after Carter pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing – the only charges filed in connection with the wreck.
The bodycam footage and interviews offer insight into law enforcement's initial response and the agency's probe into the accident. The videos are graphic, and 11Alive will not publish the footage in its entirety.
The wreck and initial law enforcement response
LeCroy, Willock, UGA offensive lineman Warren McClendon and university football staffer Tory Bowles were in the Black Ford Expedition when it hit a curb about three miles from downtown.
The vehicle cut through trees and took out a utility line before it came to rest in front of an apartment unit on Barnett Shoals Road.
The Ford hit speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour less than four seconds before impact. After the wreck, the speedometer was stuck at 83 miles per hour, according to police reports.
Officers and EMTs who arrived shortly after the accident worked frantically to tend to Willock, LeCroy and Bowles. They were all seriously injured.
Willock was ejected from the vehicle. First responders attempted to find his pulse but weren't able to locate one. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
LeCroy was unresponsive in the front seat and had to be pulled from the vehicle. First responders thought they found signs of life and performed CPR on LeCroy while at the scene and during the trip to Piedmont Athens Regional hospital. LeCroy died at the hospital.
A toxicology report found that LeCroy's blood alcohol concentration was .197 at the time of the crash – more than double the legal limit. In previous statements, the university said LeCroy was not engaged in university activities when the wreck occurred.
11Alive previously reported that LeCroy received at least four speeding tickets in four Georgia counties since 2016. The staffer drove 19 to 24 miles per hour over the speed limit, according to court records.
A Morgan County court clerk previously told 11Alive that the university's director of player support and operations, Bryant Gantt, unsuccessfully tried getting LeCroy's fine for an October 2022 ticket reduced.
Bowles was outside of the crumpled SUV and down on the ground when Athens police arrived at the scene of the wreck. An officer helped Bowles to take a few steps away from the vehicle before she laid down in the parking lot. She was taken to the hospital.
McClendon was alert, speaking with officers and other UGA football players present at the scene. His hoodie was spattered with blood from the cut on top of his head. He was later taken to Piedmont Athens Regional hospital for the wound.
Who was interviewed?
11Alive obtained copies of interviews conducted at the scene following the crash, at the police station, and over the phone in the days following the wreck. Some were interviewed more than once.
The UGA players who were interviewed by police in the newly released footage include:
- Carter
- McClendon
- UGA linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson – Johnson's purple Dodge Charger blocked the road following the wreck. Johnson was arrested on misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing on highways/streets in February, stemming from a separate Jan. 10 incident near campus.
- UGA defensive lineman Malcolm Brown
- UGA linebacker Xavian Sorey Jr.
McClendon, who was sitting in the front seat at the time of the wreck, told officers at the scene that he was looking at his phone and was unsure how fast the Ford was going. In a Feb. 1 phone interview, he told police that he could feel LeCroy was driving "a little fast" but he was still unsure of her exact speed.
Under police questioning, Carter gave inconsistent accounts of the wreck. He initially told officers that he "heard" the wreck and came down.
During the same eight-minute interview at the scene, Carter, who was driving his Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, later said he was close enough to see the Ford's taillights. Carter said he had been behind and beside the SUV.
Players who spoke with police said Carter called them and told them about the wreck. Carter also made a phone call at the scene while being interviewed by officers. It's unclear who he spoke with.
Carter denied that he was racing to officers.
"I wasn't going fast," Carter said.
Data obtained by Athens-Clarke County Police showed Carter's Jeep hit speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour prior to LeCroy's wreck.
"Alright so the next question I'm gonna ask ya, I need you to be honest with me okay? Were you guys racing to Waffle House?" an officer asked Carter.
"Nah, I wasn't," Carter responded.
"Cause I can tell you right now from looking at the damage to that car, they were moving," the officer said.
The fallout
For pleading no contest to the two traffic misdemeanors, Carter was sentenced to serve 12 months of probation, pay a $1,000 fine, perform 80 hours of community service and take a state-approved defensive driving course.
In a March media conference, UGA head football coach Kirby Smart said his players had been through a lot after the wreck.
"You know when you talk about the help and the mental health that some of our guys have needed since the accident, it's been a really tough go of it for them," he said. "I feel like our players are starting to be able to acknowledge and they understand that when you make mistakes, decisions that are costly, they can cost you your life, and that's not to be taken lightly."
Smart said he felt that he has control of the program.
"We've got complete control of our program and our kids in our program," he said. "Do kids make mistakes? Yes, young student-athletes make mistakes, they do, it happens all across the country, it happens here. There's no lack of control for our program."