Monroe Resident Killed in Traffic Accident Thursday, 3 Others Injured

A 20-year-old Monroe, Ga. woman was one of two people who died in traffic fatalities in Barrow County this week.  Georgia State Patrol reported that Tamara Tinch, 20, died Thursday when the driver of the car she was a passenger in attempted to make a U-turn on Highway 11 in Barrow County. 

A GSP spokesman reported officers were called to a crash at 5:25 p.m. Thursday on Ga. Highway 11 near McElhannon Road. A 1995 Pontiac Sunfire driven by Monroe resident Robert Stefan Heard, 20, was traveling south on Georgia 11 and was attempting to make a U-turn in the middle of the roadway. The Pontiac turned into the path of a Chevrolet C15 traveling northbound. The Chevrolet hit the Pontiac in the front passenger side door and both vehicles then left the roadway coming to rest in a ditch on the east side.

Tinch was killed in the crash and Heard was taken to Athens Regional and is in critical condition. Another passenger in his vehicle, Rebecca Justina Simon, 19, also of Monroe, was taken to Athens Regional with non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the Chevrolet, Wesley Thomas Moore, 19, of Monroe, was taken to Clearview Regional where he was treated and released.

This was the second fatal accident in Barrow County this week.  Terry Eugene Lee, 52, of Bogart, was killed when the motorcycle he was driving crossed the center line in a curve traveling northbound on Wall Road south of Ga. Highway 316 at 9:50 p.m. Wednesday. The motorcycle over-corrected causing the bike to overturn and Lee was ejected. 

(Editor's Note: The original story appeared on Barrow Patch)