A routine drive home turned fatal in the pre-dawn hours of March 28, 2022, on Interstate 85 in Jackson County. Samuel Sanders, 71, was shot while sitting in the driver’s seat of a panel van that was towing a U-Haul trailer near mile marker 144, just north of Commerce. He was transported to Northeast Georgia Medical Center and pronounced dead.

Also in the vehicle were Sanders’ 22-year-old grandson and a 67-year-old coworker, Donald Carter. An argument between Sanders and Carter escalated into gunfire, and Sanders’ grandson called 911. Deputies found the van stopped on the shoulder with Sanders unresponsive. Carter fled the scene, triggering a large multi-agency search that closed I-85 for hours; he was located about six hours later hiding in a building on a nearby farm and taken into custody without resistance, reportedly sitting on a handgun when found.

Donald Carter, from Philadelphia like Sanders, was arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault. Authorities did not immediately disclose a motive for the argument that led to the shooting.

Does anyone have information about the work trip or the events inside the vehicle that night?