Thursday, July 3, 2014
California filmmakers Randall Miller and Jody Savin have been indicted in Wayne County in the February death of camera assistant Sarah Jones. Jay Sedrish, an executive producer for the couple’s film Midnight Rider, was also indicted. The charges against the three are involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass.
Jones, 27, was part of a small crew assembled on an Altamaha River train trestle on Feb. 21, under Miller’s direction, to film a scene for the Gregg Allman bio-pic. The unexpected arrival of a freight train sent the crew scrambling to escape the narrow trestle; Jones was struck and killed by the train, and several others were injured.
CSX, which owns the railroad line, has said that Unclaimed Freight Productions, the company owned by Miller and Savin, did not have permission to be on the railroad tracks. The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office turned it over to the grand jury on Wednesday. The indictments were handed down Thursday morning.
Miller and Savin, who are married, also wrote and produced the film CBGB, filmed in Savannah in 2012.