A Citronelle man was killed and a passenger was seriously injured late Tuesday night after their pickup truck left the road and overturned on Celeste Road, roughly nine miles north of Saraland, according to Alabama State Troopers.
Troopers identified the man killed as 30-year-old Jerry Lamar Reid. Investigators say Reid was behind the wheel of a 2001 Chevrolet pickup truck when it ran off the roadway and rolled over at around 9:15 p.m. A spokesperson for the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s state trooper division said Reid was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, a detail investigators noted in their preliminary report.
A passenger riding in the truck, identified as Johnny Dwan Gardner, survived the crash but sustained injuries serious enough to require air transport. He was flown by helicopter to USA Medical Center in Mobile for treatment. Hospital officials could not immediately confirm his condition or that he had arrived, and further updates on his recovery were not available in the days following the wreck.
State troopers said the crash remained under investigation, with additional details about road conditions, speed, and the exact cause of the rollover expected to follow as the inquiry continued. Celeste Road, a rural corridor connecting communities north of Saraland toward Citronelle, has seen periodic serious wrecks over the years, and safety advocates in the area have long pushed for improved lighting and shoulder maintenance along some of its darker stretches.
The fatality adds to a sobering statistic troopers have highlighted throughout the year: a majority of people killed in Alabama traffic crashes in 2014 were not using seat belts at the time of the collision. State troopers have repeatedly urged drivers and passengers in rural Mobile County and across the region to buckle up, noting that unrestrained occupants are far more likely to be killed or severely injured when a vehicle leaves the roadway or rolls over, as investigators believe happened in this case.
Citronelle, a small city in northern Mobile County known for its rural character and close-knit community, was left mourning the loss of one of its own. Neighbors along the Celeste Road corridor said the stretch of roadway can be poorly lit at night and is frequented by pickup trucks and farm equipment moving between rural properties, conditions that can make single-vehicle wrecks especially dangerous after dark.
Alabama State Troopers asked anyone with information about the crash to contact their local post as the investigation continues. No charges had been announced in connection with the wreck as of the initial report.