CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A mother is furious after learning a College Park police officer is accused of not stopping to help her son, who died after a chase and crash.
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Officer Donnie Smith, a former sergeant with the College Park Police Department, is accused of participating in an unauthorized chase that led to the deaths of Mathew Benton and Victoria Langley.
“What if it would have been your child? You would have wanted somebody to stop and make sure your child was OK,” Deolisa Benton, Mathew Benton’s mother, told Channel 2’s Tom Jones.
Clayton County police said Smith was on duty when he chased an SUV driven by Langley, with Mathew Benton as a passenger, at speeds exceeding 100 mph. The SUV had been reported stolen.
The chase ended when the SUV crashed into a tree on 285 East at the exit to I-75 South, resulting in the ejection and deaths of Langley and Benton.
Clayton County Police allege that Smith did not stop to render aid and failed to report the incident.
Smith has been charged with several offenses, including first-degree vehicular homicide, hit-and-run and violation of oath by an officer.
“You just left my son lifeless,” Deolisa Benton said.
The mother said she has not been getting much sleep since it happened. This is the third son she has lost, with one killed in 2008 and another shot by police in 2014.
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