3 teens killed in Christmas night crash in Alabama
GENEVA, Ala. (AP) — Three 16-year-olds were killed and a fourth was seriously injured when a vehicle left a road and ran into trees on Christmas night in south Alabama, authorities said Thursday.
The dead were all cheerleaders at Geneva High School, said Geneva County Coroner Donny Adkinson.
The police chief posted on social media asking for prayers, and a church opened its sanctuary to the grieving community.
“It’s just awful,” said Adkinson.
Geneva, a town of about 4,400 people, is located near the Florida line more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Montgomery.
Adkinson said Addyson Martin, Emilee Fain, Cassidy Dunn and two other friends had been together for Christmas at someone’s home and were headed elsewhere in small sport-utility vehicle that left a road and crashed into trees.
Martin, Fain and Dunn all died at the scene, Adkinson said. “The three that were deceased were in the front seat of the car,” he said.
Another girl who was in the car was seriously injured and was rushed to a hospital in Birmingham by helicopter ambulance, he said, and the fifth girl wasn’t seriously injured.
A photograph from WTVY-TV showed the vehicle on a wrecker with the roof apparently peeled away.
Geneva police did not immediately release any details on the crash, but Police Chief Tony Clemmons posted on the department’s Facebook page asking people to pray for several families in town.
The city school system announced on Facebook that First Baptist Church of Geneva was opening its sanctuary, and ministers and counselors would be available to students and families.
