Victim was former member of the UGA football team

By Patrick Yost
Editor

    A 19–year–old Americus man was killed Monday in a two–vehicle accident on Georgia Highway 83.
    Joshua Willis died at Atlanta Medical Center after being air–lifted following a head–on collision with a tractor-trailer truck. According to published reports, he was a long–snapper for the UGA football team in 2006.
    According to Georgia State Patrol TFC Tom Bailey, Willis was pronounced dead at the hospital following an 8:19 a.m. wreck that occurred on Georgia Highway 83, south of Broughton Road. Bailey said a Nissan Altima driven north by Willis apparently crossed the center line and collided with a tractor-trailer truck driven by Ricky Wade, 49, Demorest. Wade was traveling south–bound on Georgia Highway 83. Bailey said after the initial collision, Wade’s tractor-trailer truck traveled approximately 100 yards and then slid off the east side of the highway and struck a tree. The truck then caught fire, Bailey said. Wade complained of injury at the scene. No charges were filed.