A two year old dies after a police chase in Jefferson County

Louisville, GA -  A 2 year-old is dead after her father wrecked his car following a police chase.

Authorities with the Jefferson County Sherrif’s Office say they attempted to conduct a traffic stop in a residential area outside of Louisville, Georgia on a vehicle they observed driving erratically on November 6th about 8:30p.m.

Authorities say as a Deputy approached the vehicle, the driver, Miller Lee Smith, Jr., attempted to exit his vehicle, changed his mind and sped away.

They say a chase ensued until the Deputy lost sight of the suspect vehicle approximately three minutes later on Middleground Road.

Authorities say they Deputies continued to search for the suspect vehicle and located it overturned in the woods approximately five miles outside of Louisville, Georgia on Middleground Road.

They say an adult male passenger was beside the suspect vehicle and stated that the driver, later identified as 33 year-old Miller Lee Smith Jr., had run from the scene, but that there were two children in the vehicle.

Deputies immediately searched the area and located a two year-old female on the ground beside the overturned vehicle and a three year-old male on the ground approximately forty feet from the vehicle.

Authorities say deputies administered first aid until EMS personnel arrived. The two year-old female passenger, later identified as Alike Smith, was pronounced dead at the scene. The three year-old male was air lifted to a hospital in Augusta, Georgia for treatment.

Deputies called for tracking dog assistance from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office to search for the driver. Smith was apprehended after a brief struggle in a wooded area less than a mile away from the accident scene at approximately 11:30 pm.

Smith and the other adult passenger were both treated at Jefferson Hospital in Louisville, Georgia. Authorities say the passenger was released without being charged.

The driver, Miller Lee Smith, Jr. faces several charges, listed below:

1 count of vehicular homicide

1 count of serious injury by vehicle

1 count of hit & run/failure to render aid

1 count of reckless driving

2 counts of obstruction of an officer

2 counts of DUI/Child Endangerment

1 count of DUI

2 counts of child restraint violation

1 count of fleeing & attempting to elude

1 count of failure to maintain lane

1 count of driving while unlicensed

He is being held in the Jefferson County Jail awaiting a bond hearing.

Smith is also being held for the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office on an outstanding warrant.