Rocky Mount sisters killed in Georgia wreck

Marianne Karth was westbound on Interstate 20 between Augusta, Ga., and Atlanta on May 4 when she came upon a line of slowed traffic. Georgia state troopers said a semi-truck hauling cars tried to switch lanes and hit Karth's Crown Victoria from behind, and the car then spun around and became wedged under another tractor-trailer in the line of traffic.

AnnaLeah Karth, 17, and Mary Karth, 13, were in the back seat of the car when it was hit. AnnaLeah, who planned to study medieval history in college, was killed instantly.

"(My) son said that Mary was calling for me, saying, 'Where are we, Mommy?'" Marianne Karth said Monday, noting that she doesn't recall the crash.

Mary Karth, who was interested in photography and animals, died a few days later in a Georgia hospital.

"I remember just saying, 'No, no, it can't be,'" Marianne Karth said, recalling how she heard that her daughters had died. "For whatever reason, God called them home."

The family had moved to Rocky Mount from Texas last fall. Instead of reuniting with relatives for celebrations, the family gathered to bury the two girls in Texas.

Marianne Karth returned to Rocky Mount last week with her 15-year-old son, Caleb Karth. He suffered a concussion in the crash but is expected to recover. She said the emotional wounds will take far longer to heal that the injuries to her legs and the various cuts she has that have been stitched up.

"I'm going to miss them, and I can't imagine how it's going to be day to day," she said. "There are just daily reminders of them everywhere."

Georgia state troopers charged Kishigsaikhan Dorj, 45, of Los Angeles, with two counts of second-degree homicide by vehicle and failure to maintain lane.