Car crash sparks homicide probe of aspiring fashion model in Georgia

An aspiring fashion model died after being shot in the neck while driving.

October 14, 2018, 1:33 PM

What police initially thought was a serious car crash turned into a murder mystery in Georgia after doctors found a bullet lodged in the neck of an aspiring fashion model involved in a head-on traffic collision, officials said.

Kelsey Quayle, 28, died on Wednesday when her family decided to have her removed from life support machines three days after her white Mazda 626 veered into oncoming traffic and slammed into two cars as she drove to work in the Atlanta suburb of Riverdale.

"I just want to know who did this. It's ridiculous. She didn't deserve this," Quayle's sister, Kayleigh Martin, told ABC affiliate station WSB-TV in Atlanta

Quayle was unconscious when paramedics pulled her from her car after she crashed around 7 a.m. Monday. Police said she was driving to a dentist's office where she worked as an assistant while pursuing her dream of being a fashion model.

"Upon her being transported to a local hospital with serious injuries, it was found she had suffered a gunshot wound," said Capt. Scott Stubbs of the Clayton County Police Department told WSB-TV.

Police released surveillance video from a nearby gas station that shows Quayle's car headed west on Upper Riverdale Road before it suddenly drifted into oncoming traffic and hit two cars head-on.

Quayle was initially taken to Southern Regional Medical Center in Riverdale before being transferred to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, where doctors discovered she had been shot in the neck, police said.

Police are asking for the public's help in trying to identify Quayle's killer. Stubbs conceded that it has been a baffling investigation, and that authorities have found no evidence that Quayle was intentionally targeted.

PHOTO: Kayleigh Martin speaks to reporters about the death of her sister, Kelsey Quayle, an aspiring model who was apparently shot in the neck while driving to work near Atlanta on Oct. 8, 2018.
Kayleigh Martin speaks to reporters about the death of her sister, Kelsey Quayle, an aspiring model who was apparently shot in the neck while driving to work near Atlanta on Oct. 8, 2018.
ABC News

"It seems to be random at this time," Stubbs told WSB-TV. "We have no reports of anyone reporting any gunfire, no reports of anybody driving erratically."

Quayle moved to the Atlanta area from California with her boyfriend two months ago, Martin told WSB-TV.

"We just have so many unanswered questions," Martin said.

She said her sister moved to Atlanta to pursue modeling opportunities.

"She was the sweetest person. It just doesn't make sense," Martin told WSB-TV.

PHOTO: Surveillance video shows Kelsey Quayle's car headed west on a road in the Atlanta suburb of Riverdale before it suddenly drifted into on-coming traffic and hit two cars head-on.
Surveillance video shows Kelsey Quayle's car headed west on a road in the Atlanta suburb of Riverdale before it suddenly drifted into on-coming traffic and hit two cars head-on. Doctors later found a bullet in the aspiring fashion model’s neck.
Clayton County Police Department
PHOTO: Surveillance video shows Kelsey Quayle's car headed west on a road in the Atlanta suburb of Riverdale before it suddenly drifted into on-coming traffic and hit two cars head-on.
Surveillance video shows Kelsey Quayle's car headed west on a road in the Atlanta suburb of Riverdale before it suddenly drifted into on-coming traffic and hit two cars head-on. Doctors later found a bullet in the aspiring fashion model’s neck.
Clayton County Police Department

She pleaded with anyone who might have information on the killing to contact the police immediately.

"Please, please come forward," Martin said. "Please let us know if anybody saw anything."