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Victoria Langley

Age :

Gender : Female

Race : Black

Date : 08/17/2025

Location : Interstate 285 East near the I-75 South interchange

City : College Park

County : Clayton

State : Georgia

Agency : College Park Police Department

Officer(s) :Sgt. Donnie Smith Jr.

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Driver killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/17/2025, Victoria Langley was killed when the 2009 Land Rover she was driving while College Park Police Sgt. Donnie Smith Jr. pursued her at more than 100 mph left Interstate 285 East near the I-75 South interchange, struck a tree and split apart. Passenger Mathew Benton, 34, was also killed. Langley's obituary confirms her death on 08/17/2025.
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The Land Rover had been reported stolen. Although later reporting establishes that fact, Smith's arrest warrants do not identify why he initiated the pursuit. Investigators subsequently determined that Smith's pursuit was unauthorized.
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Smith pursued Langley in a marked College Park police Ford Explorer and reached speeds exceeding 100 mph. Investigators alleged that he drove in a reckless manner immediately before the fatal crash.
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Langley lost control of the Land Rover, which left the highway, struck a tree and split in half. Both Langley and Benton were ejected and died.
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According to the subsequent criminal investigation, Smith saw the catastrophic crash but continued driving. Arrest warrants allege that he did not stop to render aid, did not report the collision and left Langley and Benton at the crash scene.
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College Park fired Smith on 08/22/2025. He was arrested the following month and charged with first-degree homicide by vehicle, hit-and-run resulting in serious injury or death, reckless driving, violation of oath by a public officer and failure to report an accident.
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The arrest warrants characterized Smith's conduct as reckless and negligent and alleged that his actions after the crash demonstrated gross negligence and willful or wanton misconduct.
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College Park's written vehicle-pursuit policy expressly requires officers to balance the necessity of immediate apprehension against the danger a pursuit poses to the public and police. It identifies death, injury and property damage as foreseeable pursuit risks and requires pursuits to be continually monitored and assessed.
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The department had already experienced a catastrophic pursuit with multiple deaths. On 01/31/2016, a stolen SUV being pursued by College Park officers struck another vehicle and killed Dorothy Wright and her grandchildren Cameron Costner, 12, and Layla Partridge, 6. Their family sued the city alleging that College Park police operated outside the department's pursuit policy.
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The resulting litigation ultimately reached the Georgia Supreme Court. The court's 2022 opinion confirms that the three family members died when their vehicle was hit by the stolen vehicle College Park police were pursuing.
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The earlier case is particularly relevant here because College Park therefore had direct institutional experience with the lethal consequences of vehicle pursuits and litigation specifically challenging compliance with its pursuit rules years before Smith initiated the unauthorized pursuit that killed Langley and Benton.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
Donnie Smith Jr. was the College Park police sergeant responsible for the pursuit. He was subsequently criminally charged in connection with both deaths.
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Smith had previously worked for the Georgia State University Police Department and Fulton County Sheriff's Office. Public payroll records place him with College Park Police Department by at least 2019, and he had risen to sergeant by the time of the fatal pursuit.
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College Park terminated Smith on 08/22/2025 following its review of the incident. He was arrested on 09/23/2025.
Smith was charged with first-degree homicide by vehicle, hit-and-run resulting in serious injury or death, reckless driving, violation of oath by a public officer and failure to report an accident. The criminal case arose not only from the high-speed pursuit but from investigators' allegation that Smith witnessed the fatal crash and then drove away without reporting it or attempting to help Langley and Benton.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/police-sergeant-charged-homicide-after-high-speed-chase-ends-deadly-crash
https://www.ajc.com/news/2025/09/college-park-sergeant-hit-100-mph-in-chase-then-left-deadly-crash-police-say/
https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/south-fulton-county/just-left-my-son-mother-shocked-by-college-park-officer-accused-not-helping-after-deadly-crash/
https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2025/09/24/college-park-police-officer-charged-deadly-august-chase/
https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/mother-demands-justice-after-son-killed-clayton-county-officer-involved-crash
https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/44526966/victoria-langley
https://cdnsm5-hosted.civiclive.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_11492833/File/Departments/Police%20Department/Vehicle%20Pursuit%20Policy.pdf
https://www.ajc.com/news/crime--law/family-sues-college-park-police-after-fatal-crash/pqtNJpF5WP9rNv6SwrXtGI/
https://law.justia.com/cases/georgia/supreme-court/2022/s21g0482.html