By Rosana Hughes, Alexis Stevens
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
MORROW, Ga. — A Georgia State Patrol trooper was fatally struck by a vehicle while he was investigating a crash that left a construction worker dead on I-75 in Clayton County overnight Tuesday.
Trooper First Class Chase Redner was at the scene of the initial crash in the northbound lanes near Mt. Zion Boulevard when he was hit around midnight. The first crash took place around 8:30 p.m. Monday, closing all northbound lanes until around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center.
A construction worker had been setting up a work zone on the interstate when they were hit and killed, officials said.
The State Patrol said they arrived at the scene around 10 p.m. Through their investigation, they determined that a driver in a black Kia Forte was headed north when the car veered into the construction zone and struck the worker. The worker, who has not been publicly identified, died at the scene.
Redner was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he died, the GSP said. He’d been with the state agency since graduating from trooper school in 2017 and had no other law enforcement experience, according to Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council records. His certificate was in good standing.
“The Department of Public Safety sends its sincerest condolences and prayers to TFC Redner’s family and co-workers,” the GSP said in a statement. “Please keep TFC Redner’s family in your prayers as they cope with the loss of their loved one.”
Redner was the second state trooper killed on duty in less than a month. On Jan. 28, Jimmy Cenescar was killed in a crash while attempting to arrest a fleeing motorcyclist on I-85 in Gwinnett County.
Gov. Brian Kemp, who recently spoke at Cenescar’s funeral, offered his condolences Tuesday, saying, “Today, we are reminded of the painful price paid by far too many heroes for our safety and the well-being of the places we call home.”
”Marty, the girls and I are devastated by the news of Trooper Chase Redner’s sudden and tragic passing,” he wrote on social media. “As the second state patrolman to die in the line of duty in less than a month, our hearts are broken for his mother and fiancée, for his friends and community, and for the entire Department of Public Safety family.”
Redner is the 19th officer to die in the line of duty across the country this year, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, which tracks law enforcement deaths. He was the third Georgia law enforcement officer killed in less than a month. The state has had more officers killed in the line of duty (4) than any other state so far this year.
On Jan. 4, Deputy Eric Minix, 31, with the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office died after being hit by an Alabama police officer’s patrol car as he stepped out of his own vehicle at the end of a pursuit, according to investigators.
Cenescar was killed just over three weeks later. He was 28. The 21-year-old motorcyclist Cenescar was pursuing was later charged with murder and vehicular homicide.
On Feb. 6, Crawford County Deputy Timothy Tavarus Rivers, 40, was killed while responding to assist another deputy when his patrol vehicle crossed into the opposite travel lane on Marshall Mill Road and collided head-on with a vehicle, troopers said.
Since its inception, the State Patrol has lost 29 troopers in the line of duty.
In September 2022, a trooper cadet who collapsed during training and later died at the hospital became the first to die on duty since 2010.
Two days after Christmas that year, Trooper First Class Chadwick LeCroy was killed when he approached a pursuit suspect who opened fire. Gregory Favors was later convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.
The state agency also lost a K-9 in the line of duty on Oct. 7, 2022 . Figo died after being shot during an investigation.
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