The man determined to be the at-fault driver in a fatal crash that killed a Bulloch County mother and daughter last year has been arrested.
On August 19, 2025, a “semi-tractor trailer” ran a stop sign and collided with a Honda Odyssey at the intersection of Highway 46 and Nevils Denmark Road in Bulloch County. Azure Rountree passed away shortly after the crash and her fifteen-year-old daughter, Anna, was airlifted to Memorial Hospital but died two days later. After the crash, troopers with the Georgia State Patrol reported that the driver of the truck was uninjured and admitted to running the stop sign.
A local television station reported that the Georgia State Patrol’s Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team (SCRT) assisted with the investigation of the crash, though a Post Trooper ultimately took out warrants in the case. Crash investigations usually take months due to toxicology testing, crash site mapping, autopsy reports, and vehicle data downloads, among other other things. Last week, the determinations from the investigation resulted in an arrest.
54-year-old Ronnie Eugene Redmond of Effingham County was arrested on Wednesday, April 29 on two counts of Homicide by Vehicle in the 2nd degree and one count of Failure to Stop at a Stop Sign.
According to the warrants, Redmond “caused the death of Azure Bailey Rountree and Anna Elizabeth Rountree without an intention to do so” when he “failed to stop for a stop sign causing an accident leading to the death” of the victims.
The warrants were signed on April 7 and executed on April 29. According to jail records, Redmond was booked into the Bulloch County jail on April 29 and released on $10,000 bond.
The crash happened just one month after the intersection of Highway 46 and Nevils Denmark Road was converted to a four-way stop due to a higher than usual number of crashes at the intersection, which previously only had stop signs on Nevils Denmark Road.
Redmond Faces Up to 12 Months in Jail for Each Charge
In Georgia, drivers are subject to two different charges when a fatality occurs as a result of a traffic crash:
- Homicide by Vehicle – 1st degree (FELONY) applies when a person causes the death of another with their vehicle ‘without malice aforethought.’ The death must result in the commission of one of the following unlawful acts:
- Reckless Driving
- DUI
- Improperly passing a school bus
- Fleeing/Attempting to Elude a Police Officer
- Driving as a habitual violator.
- The court also considers is whether or not a person leaves the scene.
- A conviction carries a 3-15 year sentence in prison.
- Homicide by Vehicle – 2nd degree (MISDEMEANOR) applies when a person causes the death of another without malice aforethought and without committing the unlawful acts listed in the felony charge. The law requires these offenses to be sentenced as misdemeanors (maximum 12 months in jail and up to a $1,000 fine) with specifics set forth by the judge.
Prior Criminal History
According to court records, Redmond was arrested in 2025 for misdemeanor Theft by Taking. In that case, the alleged offense involved the temporary taking of property from a roadside work site. The case was dead docketed in January of 2026 for a number of reasons, including difficult locating witnesses. The Dead Docket motion indicated the case would be dismissed if Eugene remained a law-abiding citizen for a period of six months and had no contact with the listed victim in the case.
In Effingham County, Redmond also has a criminal history, including:
- 2020 – Arrested on Two counts of Battery, two counts of Simple Battery, and one count of Cruelty to Children in the 3rd degree after he reportedly struck one victim with closed fists while also biting him and kicking and striking another female victim. (dead docketed and later dismissed (2022) by then-Solicitor Rick Rafter)
- 2013 – Warrants were taken for Criminal Damage to Property in the 2nd Degree under the Family Violence Act after Redmond reportedly damaged a MacBook Pro Laptop by striking it with a closed fist during a domestic dispute. The district attorney’s office ultimately opted not to present the case to the grand jury because the laptop also belonged to Redmond.
- 2012 – Cited by the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office for Leaving the Scene of an Accident. The citation was later reduced to ‘Too Fast for Conditions’ and Redmond was ordered to pay a $285 fine.
