Driver accused in crash that killed teacher admits he ‘smoked a few joints’

Allison Anne Carroll, 24, was killed in a car crash Sunday. She was a third-grade teacher at Dowell Elementary School in Cobb County.

Credit: Family photo

Credit: Family photo

Allison Anne Carroll, 24, was killed in a car crash Sunday. She was a third-grade teacher at Dowell Elementary School in Cobb County.

The man accused of causing a crash that killed a Cobb County teacher and a 17-year-old admitted he smoked “just a few joints” before getting behind the wheel, according to police.

Braden Palladin Price, 20, was also traveling at least 78 mph in a 45-mph zone on a wet road when investigators believe he struck another vehicle head-on, killing the other driver and a passenger in his car.

“The airbag control module does not record speeds above 78 mph,” his arrest warrant states. “The data showed a speed of 78 mph with the accelerator pedal still being pressed.”

Braden Price, 20, told police he had "smoked just a few joints" before allegedly causing a crash that killed two people.

Credit: Cobb County Sheriff's Office

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Credit: Cobb County Sheriff's Office

Price was arrested late Wednesday at his Acworth home, Cobb jail records showed. He was charged with two counts of first-degree vehicular homicide, reckless driving, speeding, failure to maintain lane and driving under the influence of drugs.

Price was being held without bond Thursday afternoon at the Cobb jail.

Investigators believe Price lost control of his Toyota Corolla on July 22 and struck a Ford Escape head-on, killing Allison Anne Carroll. A passenger in the Corolla, Ashley Nicole Bratton, 17, was also killed in the crash. She would have been a senior at North Cobb High School, according to her online obituary.

Carroll, 24, was a third-grade teacher at Dowell Elementary School and planned to marry her best friend in two months. She was following her fiance, Heath Satterfield, as the two traveled to visit family at the time of the wreck. Satterfield witness the wreck, according to police.

According to Cobb police, Carroll was driving a 2014 Ford Escape northbound on Mars Hill Road when she was hit by the Corolla, which was southbound.

Carroll grew up in Powder Springs and was a 2012 graduate of Hillgrove High School before graduating from the University of Georgia in 2016, according to her online obituary. She loved teaching and had a passion for mission work, traveling as far away as Uganda.

Her family has requested donations be made in her honor to a Cartersville-based group called “Simone’s Kids,” which works to provide education and care for children living in poverty.