Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Jay Baker said witnesses have given conflicting accounts about the events that led up a May 2 accident that killed one man.
Giovanni Aragon-Mercado, 19, was charged with misdemeanor homicide by vehicle, failure to maintain lane and violation of license restrictions after the sport utility vehicle he was driving struck a motorcycle head-on, killing a 24-year-old Marietta man.
Aragon-Mercado, of Acworth, was driving a Lincoln Navigator on Bascomb-Carmel Road just outside of Woodstock when authorities suspect he fell asleep, crossed the center line and hit the motorcycle driven by Derrick Ferree.
Ferree was transported to WellStar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta where he was later pronounced dead.
The driver’s mother, Perla Mercado, 38, has been charged with permitting an unlicensed person to drive.
Aragon-Mercado only had a learner’s permit, but his mother allowed her son to take the car to work that afternoon, police said.
Any witnesses who have not been previously identified are asked to call Maj. Edward Lacey at (770) 345-1700, 2.