The family of a University of Georgia PhD student killed in a wrong-way DUI crash has been awarded $56.5 million in damages, court records show.
23-year-old Beth Buchanan was struck head on by a driver going the wrong way on University Parkway while driving her mom to the airport in February 2023. She was killed and her mother was hospitalized for weeks. Buchanan was in her second year of her PhD program in Industrial-Organizational Psychology.
The Athens-Clarke County court awarded damages after entering a default judgment against the suspect, Cesar Raudales Macias, who went into hiding shortly after the crash and remains a fugitive, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
The hearing determined the amount of damages to be awarded for the full value of Beth Buchanan’s life - $1,000,000 for each of the remaining years that she was expected to live based on average life expectancy.
"This award is largely symbolic and we do not want it to be mistaken for compensation. No amount of money could ever account for the loss of our daughter or fill the void she left behind," Beth's parents, Tim Buchanan and Julie Olson-Buchanan, said in a statement. "For us, this judgment is about a formal, legal acknowledgment of the beautiful life that was stolen from her and all those who loved her."
A $15,000 reward is available for information leading to Macias’ arrest. Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 404-577-8477.
