Three Charged In Fatal Football Team Bus Accident

September 7, 2011

Three men have been charged in connection with an early Saturday morning accident that killed a football team member and left dozens  injured hours after they left a high school game in Flomaton.

Wayland Cartez Moore, 21, of Mobile; Brandon Randolph Jackson, 21, and Terrick Lashaun McDonald, 18, both of Jackson, Ala., are charged with first-degree hindering prosecution in Clarke County, Ala.

Alabama troopers said team manager Otties William Brewer III, 15, of Silias, Alabama, died when the car and Southern Choctaw High School team bus collided just after midnight in Coffeeville, Ala. The bus came to rest on its roof, injuring 34 others.

The three men facing charges, all of which were in the 1999 Nissan Maxima that collided with the bus, all fled the scene on foot. A Choctaw County deputy escorting the team took McDonald into custody. Tracking dogs from Atmore’s Holman Correctional Facility were called in to hunt for the other two men. They were taken into custody at a night club about two miles away, according to the Mobile Press Register.

A fourth person in the car, whose name has not yet been released, was airlifted to a Montgomery hospital. Authorities have not yet determined which man was driving the car.

The accident happened just after 12:07 in Coffeeville, about 20 miles from Southern Choctaw High in Gilbertown, Ala.  The driver of the Maxima ran a stop sign at the intersection of U.S. Hwy. 84 and Alabama Hwy. 69 hitting the bus. The bus was being escorted by an Alabama State Trooper and a Choctaw County Sheriff’s deputy at the time of the crash, according to troopers.

Further details about the crash have not been released by Alabama State Troopers and the Alabama Bureau of investigation. There has been no determination if alcohol or drugs played any part in the crash.

Authorities have obtained a video of the accident from a nearby gas station, but that video has not been made public.

The Clarke County Sheriff said more charges could be forthcoming against the men.

The Southern Choctaw High School team had played Flomaton Friday night at Flomaton’s Hurricane Field before heading back to the small community of Gilbertown, about 115 miles away.

Pictured top: One Southern Choctaw High football team member was killed and 34 other people were injured during this crash at 12:07 a.m. Saturday in Coffeeville, Alabama. Photos courtesy WALA-TV Fox 10 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge. Pictured bottom of page: The Southern Choctaw High School football team. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Comments

13 Responses to “Three Charged In Fatal Football Team Bus Accident”

  1. RB on September 10th, 2011 3:16 pm

    I’m the 1st RB that posted my condolences, not to be confused with the 2nd RB that posted regarding the escorts by law enforcement. But, I went to school a long time ago in FL and there were escorts of school busses to and from games even back then.

  2. puddin on September 8th, 2011 9:57 pm

    @RB. Wow, you must have been having a bad night? lmn was just asking a question. Fl doesn’t escort the busses to games. I’d never heard of it either. Interesting that the games are considered to be so contested that they are concerned for the students safety. Too bad. Some day maybe we’ll all grow up and realize that it’s just a game, nothing more, nothing less.
    Regardless of escort or not, that was terrible tragedy. I was AMAZED to see that the bus was able to support it’s own weight on it’s top. Thank God that happened or it could have been so much worse. God be with the family of the boy who was killed and all of those who were injured in the wreck. Also with the driver of the bus. I know he/she is going over and over in thier mind, trying to figure out a way that it could have been avoided. What a terrible tragedy. So many young lives changed forever, on both sides.

  3. bratt on September 7th, 2011 3:55 pm

    All teams buses r escorted by tha police r sum type of law enforcement, even atmore has an escort. It’s because sum of tha parents of tha team that lost may try n harm tha team that own. I didn’t kno this either till I married an officer n he tole me this then I saw tha team being escorted from atmore high school myself.

  4. Autumnnnnn(: on September 7th, 2011 12:11 pm

    @RB

    ive never heard of highschool football teams being escorted by any type of officer, sheriffs, cops, etc. my school, northview, certainly hasnt, nor has any around us either.
    im just saying.

  5. ta on September 7th, 2011 10:22 am

    lmn..The trooper is a Graduate of Southern Choctaw and from my understanding was on his way home and in THIS COUNTY a Choctaw County Deputy or a City cop escorts ALL football teams public and private to and from ballgames!!!! THANK GOD they were there because it might have been so much worse without them!!!!

  6. Chrissy Bell on September 7th, 2011 10:18 am

    The video should not come close to being shown in public. Some things need to just be left alone. The family is dealing with enough. My thoughts and prayers go out. NO parent should have to lose a child.

  7. paul on September 7th, 2011 9:44 am

    Leaving the scene when your buddy is in need of help shows a lot of class..I’ll bet the car was stolen or/and they all had warrents on them.

  8. RB on September 7th, 2011 9:32 am

    To IMN
    Did you just arrive here on earth ? Have you not lived in the state of Alabama at all ? For as long as I can remember football teams have always been escorted by some type of law enforcement.

  9. lmn on September 7th, 2011 8:48 am

    Does anyone know why this bus was being escorted by state and county law enforcement?

  10. RB on September 7th, 2011 8:19 am

    This is so sad. God be with the Brewer family and friends and also with the injured, their families & friends. God Bless all of Southern Choctaw High students & faculty.
    Bus rides to and from school games are supposed to be a fun activity. It is so tragic how this one turned out.

  11. 429SCJ on September 7th, 2011 2:37 am

    This instinct to flee seems so very strong, I see it in many police videos. This could have been so much worse, thank the Lord.

  12. crushed to see this on September 7th, 2011 1:13 am

    I can’t believe that the young men ran from this wreck. I guess logic went out the window. They deserved to be punished for this. Gob bless all these families.
    .

  13. xbvvb on September 7th, 2011 12:49 am

    william, does anything indicate whether this bus was equipped with seatbelts? it is so unusual for a car to be able to overturn a bus, it must have been just at the wrong angle at the right time and the car must have been going pretty fast. it just shows that even with the escorts and usual safety of a schoolbus you are never completely safe, also i think it would be good if a pic was shown of the actual student for his family, it certainly doesn’t look like the team manager was included in this team pic, what a loss for that family, prayers go out to them

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News