Collision claims life of Atmore woman
By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
An Atmore woman was apparently killed instantly when the vehicle she was driving crossed the center line of U.S. 31 and was plowed into by another car on May 15.
According to Alabama State Trooper reports, 25-year-old Tracie Shenaye Young was killed when the 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt she was driving collided with a 2004 GMC Envoy. Troopers said Young, who was not using a seatbelt, was ejected from her vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver of the GMC, Carolyn Jean Bartley of Bay Minette, reportedly suffered serious injuries and was taken by ambulance to Atmore Community Hospital.
The fatal collision happened at 5 p.m.
Traffic remained at a standstill — except for those who pulled out of line, turned around and sought alternate routes into or out of Atmore — for more than an hour as emergency medical personnel attended to Bartley, tow trucks arrived to remove Bartley’s car and law enforcement officers gathered statements and examined evidence.
The crash occurred at the 39-mile marker, two miles west of Atmore, at Highway 31’s junction with West Road.
Relatives of the fatally injured woman began arriving on the scene shortly after 6:40 p.m., and a state trooper made the death notification at roadside around 6:45 p.m. Afterwards, relatives and friends either sat and wept, comforted each other or stared into space along the highway’s right-of-way.
Trooper Derek Gessner of the ALEA Trooper Post in Evergreen said investigators could only speculate as to what caused Young’s car, which was headed north, to leave its lane of travel.
“All we know is, Young crossed over into the southbound lane and collided with the other vehicle,” Gessner said. “We don’t know why she crossed over.”
News photo by Don Fletcher