Jalen Carter, top NFL draft prospect, charged with racing in fatal crash

Former Georgia star Jalen Carter, one of the top prospects in next month's NFL draft, has been charged with reckless driving and racing in connection with a crash that killed a teammate and a recruiting staff member.

The Athens-Clarke County (Georgia) Police Department has issued an arrest warrant, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, which alleges Carter was racing his 2021 Jeep Trackhawk against the 2021 Ford Expedition driven by the recruiting staffer, 24-year-old Chandler LeCroy, which led to the Jan. 15 wreck.

The announcement came hours after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Carter was present at the scene of the crash and later provided shifting accounts of the wreck to police.

Devin Willock, who was an offensive lineman for the Bulldogs, and LeCroy were killed in what police initially reported as a single-vehicle accident.

Carter is in Indianapolis at the NFL scouting combine. He had been slated to speak to reporters as part of a previously scheduled media availability, but a league spokesperson later told reporters that Carter would not be speaking Wednesday because he and five other players were still conducting physicals.

Reckless driving and racing are both misdemeanors in Georgia.

In a statement posted to social media later Wednesday, Carter said he intends to return to Athens to «answer the misdemeanor charges against me and to make certain that the complete and accurate truth is presented.»

Carter's representatives told police that they were «making arrangements for [Carter] to turn himself in,» according to Shaun Barnett, a spokesperson for the Athens-Clarke County Police Department.

Barnett told ABC News that Athens police «have been in contact with his representatives» but said he