Six Dead from Car Wrecks Over July 4th Weekend in Tuscaloosa Area

With people across the country hitting the road this Fourth of July weekend, whether to visit family or just spend the day in the sun watching fireworks, highways quickly became crowded, inherently leading to a spike in traffic accidents which proved particularly deadly for drivers in and around Tuscaloosa.

Over the course of the long weekend, Tuscaloosa Police and Alabama State Troopers responded to five major vehicle accidents that killed six people in Tuscaloosa and elsewhere in West Alabama.

Full stories for each of the incidents can be found below.

Friday, July 2nd:

• Just after 6:30 p.m., a motorcyclist was killed in a two-vehicle wreck on Skyland Boulevard in Tuscaloosa. a TPD spokeswoman said Jason Troy Banks, Jr., 30, of Foster was driving a 1981 Suzuki motorcycle when he collided with the back passenger side of a 2014 Honda Accord in front of the Dirt Cheap discount store. Banks was pronounced dead at the scene.
• A Centreville teenager was killed in a wreck in Bibb County late Friday night. Brylon Hudson, a rising sophomore at Bibb County High School, was killed in the accident. A passenger was also in the car at the time, but as of publishing there is no update on their condition. One account of the wreck was shared on Facebook by Russ Wallace, a teacher and basketball coach at the school. He came across the accident and recognized the boys as two of his own players. He did not say when or where the wreck occurred.

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Saturday, July 3rd:

• A Demopolis man was killed in a single-vehicle crash early Saturday morning in Marengo County. Lamarcus Market Monghan, 27, was driving along U.S. 80 at approximately 2:35 a.m. when his 2014 Toyota Camry left the roadway and struck a tree. Monghan was not wearing his seatbelt at the time, according to State Troopers.

Sunday, July 4th:

• Two people were killed and three others were injured in a car accident early Sunday morning in Pickens County. The wreck occurred at approximately 6 a.m. along Alabama Highway 158 near the Zion community when Gary Randall Carver, 59, of Gordo, who was driving a 2018 Dodge Ram collided with a 2005 Chevy Silverado. Multiple helicopter medevac units and ambulances were dispatched. Carver and a teenage passenger were both pronounced dead at the scene. A Northport teenager in the Silverado and multiple others were transported to area hospitals.

Monday, July 5th:

• A pregnant mother of four was killed in a wreck along US Highway 43 near Northport. The crash occurred at approximately 6:13 p.m. when a 35-year-old Northport woman driving a 2007 Volvo XC90 collided head-on with a 2012 Honda Pilot driven by Audra Rodgers, who was also a Northport resident. Rodgers, 36, was pronounced dead at the scene. The other driver and her passenger were transported to an area hospital for treatment.