UPDATE: Authorities have identified the driver in a fatal car accident that occurred Friday night in Liberty County. 

The accident occurred shortly after 8 p.m. at the intersection of East Oglethorpe Highway and Old Sunbury Road also known as McLarrys Curve.  According to Georgia State Patrol Trooper Bell, the 2003 Toyota Avalon was heading westbound not far from Hinesville city limits when the driver identified as Derek Maez, 28, of Hinesville allegedly failed to maintain the lane and plowed into a tree.  The impact of the crash killed Maez ,who was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency medical personnel, and sent his  passenger to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah by medical helicopter. According to the GSP, the passenger sustained severe injuries.

A Memorial Mass for Maez will be held next Tuesday, Aug. 13, at 6 p.m. at St. Stephen First Martyr Catholic Church. The family will receive friends at a reception in the church social hall after the service.