Indictment: Man under influence of cocaine, marijuana during wreck; son later died

Published 8:00 am Tuesday, March 5, 2019

DALTON, Ga. — A 28-year-old Chatsworth man is scheduled to be in Whitfield County Superior Court on Tuesday after being indicted and arrested on charges relating to an automobile wreck in April of 2018 that resulted in the death of his four-year-old son.

Hermes Carlos Mercantety, of 4917 Highway 52, was arrested Friday after a Whitfield County grand jury indicted him for homicide by vehicle in the first degree, two counts of DUI and endangering a child by driving under the influence. He also faces other charges from a drug arrest earlier this year.

The vehicular homicide charge stems from a crash on Tibbs Bridge Road on April 16, 2018. Mercantety’s four-year-old son, Carmelo Ezequiel “Zeke” Green, died 10 days later at Chattanooga’s Children’s Hospital at Erlanger. According to the indictments, Mercantety was driving under the combined influence of alcohol, cocaine and marijuana.

According to the crash report from the Georgia State Patrol, Mercantety was driving a 1998 Honda Accord when the vehicle collided head-on with a 2006 Lexus IS350 around 6 p.m. on Tibbs Bridge Road near Peerless Way. Both drivers and the child were taken to Hamilton Medical Center for serious injuries, and Green was later transferred to Chattanooga.

The report doesn’t indicate on which side of the two-lane road the collision occurred, nor does it list charges for either driver. It does list Mercantety’s condition as under the influence of alcohol and drugs. The report noted Green was in a “child restraint system,” but that it was “improperly used.”

Cpl. Scotty Smith of the state patrol’s Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team testified before the grand jury.

Mercantety was arrested on Jan. 14 of this year by the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office’s and charged with possession of heroin, trafficking in heroin, possession of heroin with intent to distribute, sale of heroin and possession and use of drug-related objects. He posted a $35,000 bond two days later.

According to Whitfield County jail records he has been booked into the jail seven times since 2008, including serving two years beginning in 2011 on a burglary sentence. He was also arrested by the Chatsworth Police Department for DUI and open container and taillights violations in January of 2018.

Mercantety is scheduled for a first appearance on Tuesday before Superior Court Judge Cindy Morris.