GA Mother Valencia Merit ID’d As Victim In Saturday Night Fatal Lithonia Single-Vehicle Crash Involving Infant

DEKALB COUNTY, GA. (THECOUNT) — Valencia Marquette Merit has been identified as the victim in a single-vehicle crash in Lithonia, GA on Saturday night.

Merit, 23, was operating a vehicle with a child secured car seat, when she was involved in a crash that killed her, but left the baby alive.

At around 7:20 p.m., officers responded to a call of a vehicle accident near Browns Mill Road & East Saddleridge Drive, in Lithonia, GA.

Upon arrival, officials located a single-vehicle “down an embankment and upside down.”

Merit, the child’s mother, was pronounced dead at the scene of multiple blunt force trauma injuries consistent with the incident.

The infant inside the vehicle was still secured inside his car seat. He was alert and conscious, police said. While he did not appear to be injured, the boy was taken to a local hospital to be checked for injuries, reports 11Alive.

Police said the investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with possible information on the crash may contact police at 911.

Geo quick facts: Lithonia is a city in eastern DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The city’s population was 1,924 at the 2010 census. Lithonia is in the Atlanta metropolitan area. “Lithonia” means “city/town of stone” – Wikipedia.