Correctional Officer Eddie Davis, Correctional Officer Carlton Cherry, Correctional Officer Wayne Griglen, and Sergeant Tommie Goggins were killed in an automobile crash while returning from an Emergency Response Team training class.

As they were driving on I-75, six miles south of Tifton, a tractor-trailer forced them off of the road and directly into the path of two tractor-trailers heading in the opposite direction. Both semis struck the van simultaneously. Two of the officers were thrown from the van, and the rest were trapped inside. Eight other officers who were riding in the van were hospitalized.

The driver of the semi that caused the crash was charged with several offenses, including four counts of vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident.

Officer Davis, 47, was a United States Army veteran of the Vietnam War and the Persian Gulf War. He had served with the Georgia Department of Corrections for three years and was assigned to the Rutledge Correctional Institution.

Officer Cherry, 47, was a United States Army veteran of the Vietnam War. He had served with the Georgia Department of Corrections for eight years and was assigned to the Rutledge Correctional Institution.

Officer Griglen, 38, had served with the Georgia Department of Corrections for six years and was assigned to the Rutledge Correctional Institution.

Sergeant Goggins, 63, had served with the Georgia Department of Corrections for 13 years and was assigned to the Rutledge Correctional Institution.

All of the officers were honored at PROJECT 2000 in 1998.