by Eli Bailey Death, Obituary – Eli Bailey, 12, a student at William James Middle School, passed away after being hit by a car on Wednesday morning. Bailey was reportedly within sight of other children who were riding a Bulloch County Schools bus at the time of the accident. Stillwater Drive, which serves as the entry to the Stillwater subdivision from Maria Sorrell Road, was the location where the accident took place just a few minutes after 7 a.m. Following the 911 call, deputies with the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office and the Emergency Medical Service were dispatched to the scene, and at 7:12 a.m., the Georgia State Patrol was also called.
Later that morning, once relatives of the child’s family had been informed, the Bulloch County Coroner, Jake Futch, made the decision to publicize the child’s name. Bailey was taken to the East Georgia Regional Medical Center in an ambulance by the emergency medical services, but he was pronounced dead there at 7:50 in the morning. “The bus was on Maria Sorrell Road turning into the Stillwater subdivision when the incident occurred, and (the boy) believed he was going to miss the bus. As a result, he sprinted towards the bus and ran out into the street, where he was struck by a car,” said Futch.
According to the information that the coroner had obtained, the bus was traveling in the direction of the north and had stopped in order to make a turn, while the car was traveling in the direction of the south. As of midday, the publication had not been successful in contacting a Georgia State Patrol trooper who was assigned to the investigation for information. The secretary at GSP Post 45 in Statesboro confirmed that the State Patrol was dispatching a Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team, also known as an SCRT, to conduct additional research into the incident.
According to the coroner and Hayley Greene, who is the director of public relations for Bulloch County Schools, the school bus and its driver were not engaged in the accident. Greene also mentioned that the place where the tragedy occurred was not a bus stop.
