Four others, including 2-year-old, killed in Greene, Dallas county accidents

A Demopolis resident was killed Tuesday afternoon when the vehicle he was in collided with a tractor-trailer. Four others, including a 2-year-old, were killed in traffic accidents over the past three days in neighboring counties, three in Greene and another in Dallas County.

Earl Lee “Monk” Lewis, 52, was a passenger in a vehicle involved in the accident and died of his injuries after being transported to the hospital.

According to officials, the Demopolis police and fire departments were dispatched to the scene of the two-vehicle accident at the intersection of Hwy. 80 and Hwy. 43 at approximately 6 p.m.

Demopolis Public Safety Director Tommie Reese said a tractor-trailer owned by Tuggle Trucking collided into the passenger side of a tan pickup truck. Both the driver and passenger of the pickup truck were transported to Bryan W. Whitfield Memorial Hospital for treatment.

Lewis died of his injuries at the hospital. Injuries sustained by the driver of the pickup have not been not released.

The driver of the tractor-trailer was not injured, according to police.

On Wednesday, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency reported that a single-car crash claimed the life of Demarcus Lataurus Avery, 25, of Birmingham. The driver of that vehicle, JaJuan Martez Hudson, 24, also of Birmingham was transported to DCH Regional Medical Center for treatment.

According to ALEA, Avery was a passenger in a 2016 Nissan Altima that traveling on Alabama 14, near the 41-mile marker, approximately 4 miles from Eutaw, when it left the road, went into a ditch and overturned. Both Avery and Hudson were ejected from the vehicle. ALEA reports that neither occupant was were a seat belt.

Officials said speed is believed to be  a factor in the crash.

Then, on Thursday morning, at approximately 7:50 a.m., two people were killed when a vehicle hit an enbankment in Greene County.

Rolando Xavier Whitehead, 27, of Sawyerville was seriously injured when the 2005 Honda Accord he was driving left the roadway and struck an embankment. Whitehead was ejected and transported to Greene County Hospital where he died a short time later.

The passenger, a 2-year-old child, also of Sawyerville, was ejected and pronounced dead on the scene.

Neither of the vehicle’s occupants were using seat belts, according to ALEA. The crash occurred on Alabama 14 near the 49-mile marker, approximately 1.5 miles east of Eutaw.

Speed is believed to be a factor in the crash.

On Thursday afternoon, a single-vehicle crash claimed the life of a Selma man.

Ernest Hatcher, 68, was killed when the 1998 Chevrolet C1500 he was driving left the roadway and struck a tree. Hatcher, who was not using a seat belt, was ejected and pronounced dead at the scene.

The crash occurred on Alabama 140 near the four-mile marker, 4 miles west of Selma.

(This article originally appeared in the Saturday, February 3 issue of the Demopolis Times.)