Crime & Safety

Douglas County Woman Received Text, Made Call, Before Crash that Killed Hiram Coach: Report

Hiram resident had been working with Powder Springs Youth Basketball League.

A car crash that killed a popular youth basketball coach from Hiram in March was caused by a Douglas County woman who had just received a text message and was talking on her cell phone, according to Cobb County police.

Katrina M. Cook, 36, died at the scene of the fiery wreck, which involved several vehicles.

Danielle Kuulei Garcia, 26, surrendered Monday and was charged with second-degree homicide by vehicle, following too closely, driving with an expired license and distracted driving, according to an arrest warrant obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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Garciawas booked into the Cobb jail, where she was being held on $50,000 Monday night.

According to her arrest warrant, Garcia had received a text message on her cell phone moments before the crash, but she deleted it before allowing police to see her phone.

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"Accused also received multiple phone calls and placed a phone call at the time of the collision," the arrest warrant states.

Cook, who was killed in the crash, had been working with the Powder Springs Youth Basketball League for a year, but had taken over the girl's program, and league President Wade Douglas told Channel 2 Action News one of her teams won a county title.

"It's unfortunate that something like a phone call or text message or something couldn't wait, you know, and could eventually change the life of not only her and her family, but I'm sure the driver and anyone else impacted in the collision," Douglas told the station.


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