Authorities ID Russell County High teen killed in two-car crash

Authorities in Russell County, Alabama, have identified the 16-year-old girl killed Friday in a two-car crash in Seale.

Carlriyana Willis of Hurtsboro was the Russell County High School student investigators said was dead at the scene of a collision at Alabama Highway 26 and U.S. 431, Russell County Coroner Arthur Sumbry said Monday.

State troopers with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) said Willis was driving a 2004 Saturn Ion around 6 p.m. Friday when her car was hit by a 2001 Ford Super Duty pickup driven by a 24-year-old Columbus man.

The impact injured the man and his passenger, a Columbus woman who’s also 24, the ALEA said in a news release. They were taken to Piedmont Columbus Regional for treatment.

An 18-year-old passenger in the Saturn was also injured and transported for treatment, the ALEA said.

Taylor Funeral Home in Phenix City is handling Willis’ arrangements, according to the funeral home.

This story was originally published September 19, 2022 at 3:56 PM.

Tim Chitwood

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

706-571-8508

Tim Chitwood is from Seale, Alabama, and started as a police beat reporter with the Ledger-Enquirer in 1982. He since has covered Columbus’ serial killings and other homicides, following some from the scene of the crime to trial verdicts and ensuing appeals. He also has been a Ledger-Enquirer humor columnist since 1987. He’s a graduate of Auburn University, and started out working for the weekly Phenix Citizen in Phenix City, Ala.