Henry County teen pleads guilty in fatal crash
A Headland teenager apologized and asked for forgiveness from the family of a woman who died during a vehicle crash in December 2007.
Alex Rushing, 18, of Henry County Road 85, read a letter of apology in front of nearly a dozen family members of Dawn Lewis on Monday afternoon at the Houston County Courthouse. Lewis, 39, died from injuries she suffered in a single-vehicle crash after Rushing lost control of the pickup truck he was driving. Several other people in the crash suffered injuries, including Rushing, who was 16 years old at the time of the wreck.
Rushing pleaded guilty on Monday to the reduced charge of misdemeanor criminally negligent homicide. He was originally charged with felony manslaughter, which District Attorney Doug Valeska said was reduced to the misdemeanor as part of the plea agreement.
“I want to say how sorry I am,” Rushing said. “My hope is that you will choose to forgive.”
Circuit Court Judge Ed Jackson sentenced Rushing to serve a year in the Henry County Jail, which was suspended for two years of probation. Jackson also ordered Rushing to pay $15,450 in funeral expenses, and do 50 hours of community service. Jackson also ordered Rushing to surrender his driver’s license for two years.
Valeska said the Lewis family agreed to reducing the charge, and the sentence.
Derek Yarbrough, the attorney who represented Rushing, along with Spencer Danzey, said pleading guilty prevented both families from having to go through a trial.
“This was not some stranger, this was a friend to Alex and his family,” Yarbrough said.
Yarbrough said his client’s guilty plea was only the first of two court proceedings he faces. He said a civil wrongful death lawsuit filed by George Lewis remains pending against his client, and his parents.
Valeska had earlier called speed a factor in the manslaughter charge filed against Rushing.
Six people were in the vehicle at the time of the crash, including Rushing’s mother. It happened on County Road 85, about four and a half miles northeast of Headland. Lewis was a backseat passenger in a F-250 pickup truck when the crash happened around 2 a.m.
Diane Hardy choked back tears at the hearing as she called Rushing’s actions reckless and careless.
“She was my only daughter, and my best friend,” Hardy said. “She cared for you so much.”
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Reader Reactions
Maybe i wasnt real clear on the youthful offender status. If he were being charged with a criminal offense then he would probably have been tried under youthful offender status. He was convicted of a misdemeanor crime , the same is a speeding ticket, so no need to apply youthful offender.
Alex Rushing did stand in front of the whole family and apologize and ask for forgiveness, but the mothe rof Mrs. Lewis told him he was reckless and careless as you all may know. But what the paper didnt tell you is that she also told this kid he ruined the entire families lives’ and put her through two years of pain and misery. I strongly pray for this lady!!! That will not bring your daughter back. And to Army1csm and eharris196 you both dont know a thing you are talking about and dont need to comment on things you dont know all the facts too. and he did NOT get triad under youhful offender!!!!!!!!
First of all eharris, you are so wrong. I have a close friend who was in that accident as well. She has stated over and over that speed was not a factor. They drove down into a bottom and ran into a thick wall of fog and the young man could not see the road and missed the curve. There was no one acting up or agging him on as someone else said. There was no need for the Mother or any of the other ladies to say anything to this young man because he was not driving in a wreckless manner. This was a tragic accident an no one involved will ever be the same. My friend suffered serious injuries and she will suffer for them for the rest of her life. She, however has never once blamed this young man. She has stated over and over that he did nothing wrong. She told the State Trooper that night in the emergency room about the fog. Her story about what happened that night has not changed at all in the almost two years since this happened.(which is usually the case when you know what you are talking about and you are telling the truth) No one from the Lewis family has ever talked to her about that night or what happened, I wonder why? My friend has said on numerous occasions that no one forced anyone into that truck and every one of the GROWN women chose not to buckle their seat belts. That was a choice they made.
Unless you have talked to any of those who were in the vehicle that night, then everything you are saying is based on assumption, rumor and the bits and pieces that you have read that have not given the complete story.
csm…by the dictionary definition this young man is indeed now a real “criminal” as he has a “criminal record” because of this ACCIDENT.
As far as “youthful offender” status for this young man, nothing was said in the article about it being allowed for him. I would hope that it was, but I would have thought a judge with half a brain would have thrown this case out of court. It goes to show just how desperate for money “the system” really is.
“He got off easy if you ask the Lewis family…“...well, maybe if that ADULT WOMAN would have put her seat belt on AS ALABAMA LAW REQUIRES, we all would not be here debating whether or not this KID is a cold blooded killer, or the victim of an overzealous PROSECUTOR whose main job it is to make money for “the criminal ‘justice’ system”.
csm, would be good if you looked up the word “malice” and how it applies to “accident” . It has a direct bearing on sentences, as rightly it should.
What is a real criminal woden? I thought it someone charged with committing a crime-my bad I misunderstood. Usually the real criminals are “thugs” and/or animals when “they” accidentally “kill” someone.
I will keep copies of these comments b/c
before the new year is out many of you will eat that liberal “he should be forgiven, let him be, he made a mistake”
talk. But all due respect to each of you and Rushing’s family; He got off easy if you ask the Lewis family. Accidents are caused, they just don’t happen! Sorry.
This is such a sad tragedy and was obviously an ACCIDENT. It makes me angry that someone would blame a sixteen year old boy for the death of a grown woman who chose to not wear a seatbelt. It makes me wonder if the family of the woman who died isn’t just out for the money with two separate civil suits after they have already collected more than $15,000 from the other victims of this horrible tragedy - the 16 year old boy and his family.
i’m sure he was tried under youthful offender. Even if not it was reduced to a
misdemeanor , thats not like a felony conviction would have been. The judge handled it properly.
Why do adults lately seem to have such a hatred towards the young people of the world?
Are we really gonna make criminals of every teenager who gets in a wreck?
This young man wasn’t drunk or drugged…he did not commit a crime…he was an inexperienced young driver showing off to his friends or whoever in the truck…
I am sorry that he made that mistake and I am sorry that lady died.
But I am also sorry for this young man who has been demonized and who now will have a criminal record on top of the horrible memory of the wreck for the rest of his life.
He is 18 now so that record will never go away…nice how that worked out for Valeska, eh?
The tragic events of that foggy night before Christmas two years ago are burned into the hearts of those who lived through it, and of those family members who survive the one who died. But will bitterness bring her back? Will holding a young man’s life hostage to hate do anything but blacken the hearts of those filled with bitterness? Will it heal the wounds all have suffered? Anyone who knows young Alex knows he will carry the burden of this tragedy for the rest of his days. I can’t imagine how this sensitive, loving young man, husband, and now father must suffer from the memory of that fateful night in late 2007, how he must see it replayed again and again in the darkness of his mind before sleep comes. If consolation is to be found in this tragedy, it will come from accepting that it was an accident. The deceased was a friend loved by all, not an enemy harmed with malicious motive or intent.
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