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Two killed in unrelated accidents over holiday weekend
Pedestrian hit, boy drowns
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Two people died tragically in DeKalb County over the holiday weekend.A 17-year-old Springfield boy drowned Sunday afternoon while swimming at the Floating Mill Recreation area on Center Hill Lake.Then, on Sunday night, a 49-year old-man was killed after being hit by a vehicle just before around 9 p.m.David Lynn Judkins was reportedly struck by a 1995 Jeep Cherokee driven by Duncan Delille of Silver Point, 19,Delille was traveling east on Jefferson road at the time of the accident, and told officials that he saw a man walking east in front of his vehicle near the center line of the roadway.Only minutes before the fatal accident, another driver had called 911 to report that there was a pedestrian walking in the middle of Jefferson Road, and that he had almost hit him.A deputy had already been dispatched to investigate when the call came in that the Judkins had been hit.Judkins was wearing black jeans and no shirt. Delille swerved to the right but the left front of his vehicle reportedly clipped Judkins.Judkins was thrown into a ditch on the northside of the roadway, and died instantly.Neither Delille nor his juvenile passenger were injured in the collision.No charges are expected to be filed in the case.Jefferson Road was closed for about three hours for investigation and clean up of the crash scene.Meanwhile, a 17-year-old who remains unidentified at press time because of his age, was at the Floating Mill recreation area enjoying a Memorial Day weekend with a group of family and friends when he accidentally drowned at the swimming area.Local 911 received the call at just after 1:30 p.m. and TWRA Officers, U.S. Army Corps of Engineer Rangers, the DeKalb County Rescue Squad, DeKalb EMS, and members of the DeKalb County Sheriff's Department all quickly arrived at the scene.The victim and another young man reportedly decided to swim the approximately 75-yard distance from the bank to the buoys on the far side of the swimming area.As the boys were swimming across, one of the them began screaming for help.Other swimmers in the area came to the boy’s rescue and he was pulled in to shore.While the first young man was being attended to, the victim of the drowning, who had not previously shown any signs of distress, suddenly disappeared under the water.Swimmers in the area immediately began frantically trying to find the boy.Center Hill Lake Resource Manager Kevin Salvilla, who was off duty at the time, also dove into the lake looking for the youth.TWRA officers reportedly used side scan sonar to pinpoint the victims location, and the Rescue Squad pulled the body out of the waterafter making only three passes over the area with a drag bar.The youth, who was found in about seven to eight feet of water, was pronounced dead by the medical examiner.The body was recovered at 2:20 p.m., less than an hour after the tragic event.The death is the first drowning of the year on Center Hill Lake.