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26
Oct

Child Killed, 5 Injured in Alabama Crash

October 26, 2011

A 6-year-old boy died in a car crash on Monday in Walker County, Alabama, and five more people were injured.

The Birmingham News reports that the accident occurred at 4:45 p.m. on Alabama 257, about five miles north of Jasper. The crash involved a 1993 Geo Prizm and a 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe.

The Prizm’s six-year-old passenger died at the scene, and that car’s 30-year-old driver, a Jasper resident, was taken to UAB Hospital in Birmingham.

The driver of the Tahoe, aged 21, was taken to Walker Baptist Hospital in Jasper, along with a 19-year-old woman and an infant.

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If you or someone you know has been involved in an Alabama accident or suffered an Alabama injury, the Alabama accident attorneys at Norris Injury Lawyers can help.

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18
Oct

Alabama Man Accused of Murder in Crash That Killed Toddler

October 18, 2011

Prosecutors want a 38-year-old Mobile, Alabama, man to be charged with murder and assault in connection with the 2009 high-speed crash that killed a 2-year-old girl.

During opening arguments on Monday, the man’s defense attorney told a jury, “He does not live a single day without extreme regret and remorse for what he did. This case is a lot of things. It’s an absolute tragedy. It’s the culmination of a lot of bad decisions by a lot of people. This is not a murder case.”

The crash occurred August 26, 2009, after police stopped a driver for playing his stereo too loud — a likely violation of the city’s noise ordinance. The man then fled from police. The Birmingham News reports that within 55 seconds of hitting his gas pedal and speeding down Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard the man crashed his Buick LaSabre into a Ford Taurus carrying three people, including a pregnant woman and the two-year-old victim.

After the crash, police discovered a small amount of drugs in the Buick.

The man was charged with murder, two counts of first-degree assault, second-degree possession of marijunana, possession of cocaine, and causing a death while attempting to allude police. He faces up to 20 years in prison on the murder charge.

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If you or someone you know has been involved in an Alabama accident or suffered an Alabama injury, the Alabama accident attorneys at Norris Injury Lawyers can help.

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14
Oct

Auburn Student Charged After Running Over Child at Bus Stop

October 14, 2011

An Auburn University student who struck a seven-year-old girl at a bus stop in Auburn, Alabama, on Tuesday has been charged with reckless driving and passing a stopped school bus.

According to Opelika-Auburn News, the 21-year-old woman was driving a black 2003 Toyota 4Runner when she hit the Cary Woods Elementary School first-grader. The child is recovering from her injuries at home.

On Wednesday, Auburn City School Superintendent Dr. Terry Jenkins, who arrived at the accident scene shortly after it occurred, told oanow.com that he thought the little girl would return to school this week.

Jenkins has viewed the school bus video and says, “You can see when the bus stops and all the devices engage and the children get off the bus. Two children walk in front of the bus and cross the street. This child was the third child to cross the road.

“As the third child crosses the road, the bus driver sat down on the horn of the bus as the black SUV approaches, swerves and strikes the child, which spins her, and she rolls down the side of car onto the pavement.”

Jenkins also said that the driver was late for class and talking on her cell phone just prior to the incident.

The driver will appear in court on December 8. Alcohol and drugs are not believed to be a factor in this accident.

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If you or someone you know has been involved in an Alabama accident or suffered an Alabama injury, the Alabama accident attorneys at Norris Injury Lawyers can help.

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5
Oct

Alabama’s Infant Mortality Rate Rises to 8.7 Per 1,000

October 5, 2011

In the state of Alabama, 8.7 children out of 1,000 born alive in 2010 died before they turned a year old. This figure rose from 8.2 in 2009—meaning 522 Alabama babies died in 2010 compared to 513 babies in 2009.

“I am unhappy that we didn’t continue to go down,” State Health Officer Don Williamson told The Birmingham News. In 2009 Alabama’s infant mortality rate was the lowest ever recorded in the state, and in 2010 it tied Alabama’s second-lowest rates, which were recorded in 2003 and 2004.

Williamson also told the newspaper that he looks for the state to rank among the five worst in infant mortality rates in the 50 states.

Governor Robert Bentley wrote a statement in response to the report, saying, “We need to place additional emphasis on responding to maternal and child health needs to further lessen infant deaths.”

The Birmingham News attributes Alabama’s dismal infant mortality rate to many factors—including race, teen pregnancy, and smoking.

“There are many factors that go into infant mortality, including the racial makeup of Alabama, the obvious lower economic status of many Alabamians, lack of access to health care,” said George C. Smith Jr., a family-practice doctor in Lineville.

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If you or someone you know has been involved in an Alabama accident or suffered an Alabama injury, the Alabama accident attorneys at Norris Injury Lawyers can help.

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27
Sep

Alabama Second in Nation for Rate of Women Killed by Men

September 27, 2011

In a new analysis, the state of Alabama was ranked second in the nation in the rate of women killed by men. Nevada is ranked first.

The study—called “When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2009 Homicide Data”—comes from the Violence Policy Center and lists Alabama as having a rate of 2.64 per 100,000.

Nancy Tra­v, president of the Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence, told The Birmingham News, “Sadly, the [coalition] is not surprised that Alabama is in the top 10 be­cause we have been for sev­eral years. We have no posi­tion on gun control as an or­ganization, but of course we would like the violence to stop.”

The study revealed that 64 women were killed by males in Alabama in 2009 and breaks down these cases by demographics like age, race, weapons used, familiarity with killer, etc.

Birmingham Police Seargant James Jackson told The Birmingham News that domestic violence is the state’s “silent crisis.”

“Domestic violence is deemed as a personal mat­ter, and it’s not,” Jackson said. “But nobody wants to get involved. They’ll call the police if their neighbor’s noise is too loud, but when it comes to suspected do­mestic violence, they stay quiet.”

Also among the Top 10 states are Louisiana, Arizona, Ten­nessee, Georgia, South Car­olina, South Dakota, Hawaii and Missouri.

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If you or someone you know has been involved in an Alabama accident or suffered an Alabama injury, the Alabama accident attorneys at Norris Injury Lawyers can help.

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20
Sep

Hoover Teen Killed in Collision with Dump Truck

September 20, 2011

A 14-year-old Hoover, Alabama, girl was killed on Thursday, September 15, when a dump truck collided with the car that the high school freshman was riding in on the way to school.

The Birmingham News reports that at 8 a.m. the girl had been riding to Hoover High School in a 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier, driven by a 16-year-old fellow student. A 15-year-old passenger was also in the car at the time of the crash, which occurred when a dump truck hit the passenger side of the Cavalier as it made a left turn off Shades Crest Road onto Brock Gap Parkway.

The 16-year-old driver and 15-year-old suffered non-life-threatening injuries but the 14-year-old, who was in the back seat on the passenger side, was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at Children’s of Alabama.

The 65-year-old dump truck driver was unharmed.

An accident reconstruction team has been assigned to the crash to investigate all details. The victim was wearing her seatbelt, and there’s no indication that cell phones were a factor in the crash.

“This crash will have profound effects on not only all of those involved, but their families as well,” said Hoover police spokesman Captain Jim Coker. “It is our duty to fully investigate the crash, in order to find answers.”

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If you or someone you know has been involved in an Alabama accident or suffered an Alabama injury, the Alabama accident attorneys at Norris Injury Lawyers can help.

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15
Sep

3 Killed, 2 Injured in Sumiton Car Crash

September 15, 2011

A two-car accident in Alabama’s Walker County killed three people and injured two others on Tuesday, September 13.

The crash occurred around 5:30 a.m. on Corridor X near Sumiton, Alabama, which is about 25 miles from Birmingham.

Alabama State Troopers say a 27-year-old man (now deceased) was traveling slowly in the eastbound lanes just west of the Dora/Sumiton exit in his 1995 Ford Taurus. A coroner has determined that the man must have been having car trouble, as his flashers were on and he was driving very slowly.

A 32-year-old male who was traveling behind the Taurus pulled around an 18-wheeler in his 2002 Toyota Tacoma and rear-ended the Taurus.

“It caught the vehicle above the frame, so the frame didn’t take the impact,” said Walker County Coroner J.C. Poe to The Birmingham News.

The three men who died—ages 27, 22, and 21—were all residents of Jasper, according to The Birmingham News. Each was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.

Among the injured were a 16-year-old male from Jasper (a passenger inside the Taurus) and the 32-year-old male driver of the Tacoma, who lives in Cordova. Both were taken to UAB Hospital in Birmingham.

Police continue to investigate the accident.

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If you or someone you know has been involved in an Alabama accident or suffered an Alabama injury, the Alabama accident attorneys at Norris Injury Lawyers can help.

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5
Sep

What Is Wrongful Death?

September 5, 2011

The definition of “wrongful death” can be confusing; the consequences of a wrongful death, however, are pretty clear–not only emotional distress for the victim’s loved ones but also the strain of lost wages, unpaid medical bills, and funeral expenses.

So, what exactly is “wrongful death”?

An Alabama wrongful death lawsuit is a claim filed against the negligent party responsible for the death of your loved one. A claim can be filed if your relative died as a result of one of the following three circumstances:

  • deliberate measures — someone intentionally harmed your loved one
  • negligence — your relative’s death was caused by another’s careless behavior
  • strict liability — a product deemed unsafe or defective caused your loved one’s death

If you’ve lost a family member as a result of another person’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation.The Alabama wrongful death attorneys at Norris Injury Lawyers will work to ensure that the party responsible for your loved one’s death is held liable.

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If you’ve lost a loved one to an Alabama wrongful death, the Alabama wrongful death lawyers at Norris Injury Lawyers can help.

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30
Aug

Lawsuit Settled Over Fatal Apartment Complex Deck Collapse in Alabama

August 30, 2011

A lawsuit filed over the collapse of an apartment complex deck in Hoover, Alabama, has been settled out of court, reports The Birmingham News.

Two decks at Waterford Landing apartments collapsed on July 4, 2010, killing a resident who fell three floors to the ground. The man’s roommate and five friends who were visiting the apartment were all injured when they, too, fell three stories. Three of them were seriously injured. Two decks below, which no one was standing on, were crushed by the falling deck.

Three weeks later, another deck on a different Waterford Landing apartment building collapsed, injuring a woman.

“The settlements were fair,” said the plaintiffs’ attorney.

Though the monetary compensation was kept private, the attorney said, “I can tell you that all the plaintiffs were fairly and fully compensated … [Representatives for both the real estate firm and the apartment complex were] sensitive to the needs of the individuals in the case.”

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If you or someone you know has been involved in an Alabama accident or suffered an Alabama injury, the Alabama accident attorneys at Norris Injury Lawyers can help.

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26
Aug

Birmingham Man Charged with Manslaughter After Motorcycle Crash

August 26, 2011

A Birmingham, Alabama, man has been charged with manslaughter and was booked into the Jefferson County Jail last week after causing a fatal car and motorcycle collision in March 2011, reports The Birmingham News.

The man is now being held on $15,000 bond.

The fatal car accident occurred at 10:41 p.m. on Friday, March 25, in the 600 block of Bankhead Highway. Jefferson County Deputy Coroner Bill Yates has said that the 32-year-old victim—a man from Birmingham—was traveling down Bankhead on his motorcycle when a car turned in front of him. The motorcycle then slammed into the passenger door of the car.

The motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene.

Later, police found that the driver of the car was under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

The victim, who worked as a security officer, was survived by his wife, two sons, and his parents and a brother. A memorial fund has been set up for his children at Regions bank.

Read more.

If you or someone you know has been involved in an Alabama accident or suffered an Alabama injury, the Alabama accident attorneys at Norris Injury Lawyers can help.

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