In the early hours of Sunday morning, a wrong-way crash on U.S. 84 near Liberty County High School left 20-year-old Kortney Jackson dead, following a head-on collision that would end her life in mere seconds. Jackson, from Allenhurst, was driving her 2016 Honda Civic eastbound in the westbound lane when she crashed into a 2025 Genesis GV70 at high speed, just after dawn. Despite paramedics’ best efforts to rush her to the hospital in Hinesville, she succumbed to her injuries, leaving behind a family and friends reeling from the loss of someone with so much potential.

The driver of the Genesis, who was shaken but conscious, was transported to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah. Doctors kept him under observation as state troopers combed the crash site, working for hours to piece together the events leading up to the collision. Both directions of U.S. 84 were closed as authorities collected evidence and interviewed witnesses. Though it’s confirmed that Jackson was traveling in the wrong lane, investigators have yet to determine why. There’s no word on whether impairment, distraction, or a medical emergency played a role, and the Georgia State Patrol hasn’t indicated whether weather conditions were a factor.