Motorist guilty of homicide

An Appling man pleaded guilty to a charge stemming from a car accident that killed a Martinez man two years ago.

During Monday's Columbia County Superior Court session, attorneys told Superior Judge Albert M. Pickett that Christopher Ancel Wood wished to plead guilty to homicide by vehicle.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Carlson said Wood is out on bond and a pre-sentencing hearing will be held in the near future.

The accident occurred on Oct. 7, 2000, when Wood fell asleep at the wheel of a 1997 Dodge Avenger and hit a stopped 1990 Ford Bronco that was occupied by Carl G. Routh. Routh, who was waiting to pull into Washington Road from Publix, according to the report done of the accident by the Columbia County Sheriff's Department.

The report also states Routh, 52 at the time of the accident, was carrying a five-gallon gasoline can in the front passenger side of the vehicle and was hauling an empty jetski trailer.

The impact caused the Bronco to burst into flames and caused Routh to sustain second-and-third-degree burns that eventually caused his death, according to the report.

The case involving a local doctor is expected to begin in two months. Assistant District Attorney Willie M. Saunders said Dr. Jerry Jackson Lee should be in court on Sept. 3.

Lee's attorney Richard E. Allen filed a request for a bench trial last Friday to be tried by Superior Court Judge J. Carlisle Overstreet.

Lee, a gynecologist, faces charges of aggravated assault and aggravated sexual battery stemming from a Dec. 7, 2001 incident involving his wife.