UPDATE: The director of Midnight Rider and two of the film’s producers have been charged with involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass for their role in the death of Sarah Jones, the 27-year-old camera assistant who was struck by a train on the set of the film.
Georgia prosecutors filed the charges against director Randall Miller and producers Jody Savin and Jay Sedrish on Thursday following a grand jury indictment. The manslaughter charge carries a potential 10-year sentence while the trespass charge carries a sentence of one year.
Jones died on the first day of shooting of the now-aborted Greg Allman biopic, which was set to star William Hurt as Allman.
As the crew were preparing to shoot a dream sequence involving a mattress on the middle of a railroad bridge, a train unexpectedly arrived. The crew were unable to remove the mattress in time, and the debris from the collision struck Jones and knocked her onto the tracks.
The producers, it seems, did not have permission to shoot on the tracks or place a production assistant with a walkie talkie further up the line to warn if a train was coming.
Earlier this week, a video featuring actors and crew members holding signs in tribute to Jones was released online.
While shooting a dream sequence involving a mattress on a railroad trestle for the Greg Allman biopic Midnight Rider, a crew member was tragically struck and killed by an oncoming train. That crew member has now been identified as Sarah Elizabeth Jones, 27, who served as a camera assistant.
Seven other people were injured in the accident, which occurred over the Altamaha River in Savannah, Georgia. Wayne County Sheriff’s detective Joe Gardner said they were treating the case as a homicide “until we have more information.”
The production was reportedly warned beforehand to expect two oncoming trains. When those trains passed by, the mattress was placed over the tracks. But then a third train arrived unexpectedly, which sent the crew scrambling. The train ended up colliding with the mattress, causing it to burst into pieces. The debris from the mattress reportedly struck Jones and knocked her over in front of the oncoming train.
According to Gardner, the production had permission from CSX, the company that operates the trains in the area, and Rayonier, the paper and forest products company that owns land in the vicinity, “to be in that general area.”
“All of us on the production team are devastated by the tragic accident that happened today. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of our crewmember,”; Midnight Rider Productions said in a statement.
