Coroner: Alcohol, speed may have been factor in fatal wreck

Alcohol and speed may have been factors in a three-car wreck that killed one Auburn University student, left another injured and sent three other people to the hospital Wednesday night, according to a written statement issued by Lee County Coroner Bill Harris.

Andrew Jackson Thurmond IV, 18, of Birmingham, was killed when the 1998 Corvette he was a passenger in veered into the oncoming lane of traffic, collided with another vehicle head-on and struck a second car, Auburn police Assistant Chief Tommy Dawson said.

Auburn firefighters received the call at 10:13 p.m., Auburn fire Battalion Chief Matt Jordan said. When they arrived at the scene, one of the vehicles was on fire, he said.

Thurmond died of a massive head injury and was pronounced dead at the scene, Harris said.

The driver of the Corvette, Scott Leighton, 19, of Kildeer, Ill., was transported by ambulance to East Alabama Medical Center, Dawson said.

Leighton was listed in fair condition Thursday afternoon, EAMC Public Relations Manager John Atkinson said.

The driver of a silver Hyundai — the first vehicle — a 31-year-old Notasulga man, was transported by helicopter to The Medical Center in Columbus, Dawson said. A 37-year-old Opelika woman driving a Volvo — the second vehicle — and her male passenger from Loachapoka were both transported by ambulance to East Alabama Medical Center, he said. None of them suffered life-threatening injuries, he said.

Thurmond and Leighton, both freshman at AU and members of the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity, were at the fraternity house prior to the accident, said Jim Harden, a spokesman for the Office of Dean of Students.

No charges have yet been filed in the incident, Dawson said. He would not say whether alcohol was involved. Once laboratory test results come back, the Lee County district attorney would decide what, if any, charges are appropriate, he said. The case may be presented to a grand jury before charges are filed, Dawson said.

Daniel Hackett, president of the AU chapter of Delta Sigma Phi, called Thurmond’s death “a terrible tragedy.”

The fraternity is like a big group of friends, Hackett said. He said they were just getting to know Thurmond, who went by “Drew.”

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family,” he said.

Hackett said as far as he knew, the two were working on a float with sorority members at the fraternity house on Lem Morrison Avenue earlier that day. After that, he doesn’t know where they were. With approximately 90 members, that’s not unusual, he said.

Dawson said he, too, thought the incident was a tragedy. Any time a young person dies, it’s difficult to deal with, he said.

“You know somewhere parents are suffering today,” he said.

Dawson and Hackett both asked people to be careful when driving.

Thurmond’s body was sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences in Montgomery, Harris said.

The wreck remains under investigation by the Lee County Coroner’s Office, the Auburn Police Division and the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences.