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UPDATE: Fort Stewart soldier killed in single-vehicle crash identified
FRONT accident soldier gumbranch cemetery 2
Cemetery headstones were damaged in Gum Branch when a soldier died in a single-vehicle accident off of Highway 196 on Friday. - photo by Lewis Levine

UPDATE: Fort Stewart soldier Spc. Daunte Hewitt-Heath was killed in a single vehicle accident on Friday, Sept. 20 in Gum Branch. Hewitt-Heath, age 26, was a Satellite Communication Systems Operator/Maintainer assigned to Company B, 63rd Expeditionary Signal Battalion, 35th Signal Brigade, according to Fort Stewart public affairs.

Hewitt-Heath had served in the Army for more than four years and had been assigned to Fort Stewart since 2017.

“Spc. Hewitt-Heath was an outstanding individual who loved being a Soldier, "said Capt. Andrew Mangosing, Commander, Company B, 63rd Expeditionary Signal Battalion, 35th Signal Brigade. “Through his kindness and great sense of humor, Spc. Hewitt-Heath always raised the spirits of those around him and will be forever missed.”

According to Georgia State Patrol Trooper John Snipes, Hewitt-Heath, was traveling westbound on Georgia State Highway 196 near the Gum Branch Church when he lost control of his 2011 Accura TL causing the vehicle to flip several times inside a Gum Branch cemetery. Hewitt-Heath was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. Snipes told the Courier he was unsure when the accident occurred. However, a passerby spotted the overturned vehicle and alerted 9-1-1 around 3:18 a.m. The cause of the accident is under investigation. Several headstones were damaged when the vehicle rolled over. The GSP is investigating the crash.

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