Westover crash kills mother, two children

Published 10:31 pm Saturday, November 13, 2010

By AMY JONES / Associate Editor

WESTOVER — A Nov. 12 crash claimed the life of a mother and two children while also injuring another child, according to the Alabama State Troopers’ office.

Jessica Wyatt Fields, 32, Tony Ray Fields, 9, and John Clay Fields, 8, all of Sylacauga, died in the crash. The crash also injured Angelina Fields, 12.

At approximately 10:33 p.m. Nov. 12, the Fields family was in their Chevrolet Lumina van at the intersection of U.S. 280 and Shelby County 55 when the van was struck by a Ford Mustang driven by Leeds resident Manley Ray Williams, 19. Williams failed to stop at a stop sign.

Williams’ Mustang struck the van in the side, killing Jessica Fields and her two sons.

Angelina Fields was airlifted to Children’s Hospital in Birmingham.

Williams and his passenger, Joshua Stokes, were treated for minor injuries at UAB Hospital. Williams was then placed under arrest for three counts of reckless murder and one count of first-degree assault.

Shelby County Sheriff Chris Curry said in a press release he is sorry for the family’s loss.

“The Sheriff’s Office will assist the Alabama Department of Public Safety in every way possible with their investigation, and I would like to extend my deepest sympathy to the families who lost loved ones in this accident,” he said.

The Alabama State Troopers responded to the scene, along with Shelby County Sheriff’s deputies, the Vincent Police Department, the Harpersville Police Department, the Westover Fire Department, the Chelsea Fire Department, the Harpersville Fire Department and Chelsea’s Citizen Observer Patrol.

The Alabama State Troopers are investigating the incident.