Lamar County, AL — June 16, 2025, Therond Adams Jr. was killed and two other people were injured in a truck accident on State Highway 18.
Authorities said a Mack semi-truck collided head-on with a Chevrolet Silverado west of Vernon. The semi ended up in a ditch after the crash.
Truck driver Therond Adams Jr., 60, was critically injured in the crash, according to authorities. He died June 24 at a Jackson hospital.
The 16-year-old Chevrolet driver and a 16-year-old passenger were hospitalized with unspecified injuries after the crash, authorities said.
Authorities have not released any additional information about the Lamar County crash. The accident is still being investigated.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
When people read about a head-on collision between an 18-wheeler and a pickup truck, especially one that resulted in someone’s death, they understandably want to know: How could this happen? Did the truck drift into oncoming traffic? Was the pickup where it shouldn’t have been? We don’t have answers yet, but that’s exactly the problem.
From what’s publicly available, we know that a semi-truck and a Chevrolet Silverado collided head-on along Highway 18 in Lamar County, Alabama. The truck ended up in a ditch, and the truck driver later died from his injuries. Two teenagers in the pickup were hospitalized. But that basic timeline leaves out the most critical questions: Which vehicle crossed the center line, and why?
Some might assume the truck driver caused the crash simply because he died, but legally, that’s not a sound conclusion. Until we have firm answers about what led up to the collision, no one should be jumping to conclusions. That means we need to look deeper: into the black box data, cell phone records, dash cam footage and any in-cab monitoring the truck may have had. These technologies often tell a more complete story than a crash scene alone ever could.
We also don’t know what kind of hiring and training standards the trucking company followed. If the driver was unfit to be on the road, or if the company had reason to know that and hired him anyway, then the scope of responsibility expands. I’ve handled cases where a crash happened not because of one bad moment, but because a company ignored clear warning signs when hiring an unqualified driver. Those patterns only come to light when someone conducts a thorough, independent investigation.
At this stage, there are far too many unanswered questions. Was the trucker distracted? Did either vehicle attempt a passing maneuver? Was there a mechanical failure? These aren’t hypotheticals; they’re the kinds of details that decide who’s responsible and whether anything could have prevented this crash.
Key Takeaways:
- It’s not yet clear which vehicle crossed into the other’s lane; that’s a central question that must be answered through evidence.
- Black box data, phone records and dash cams may reveal critical facts about what each driver was doing before impact.
- A full investigation should also scrutinize the trucking company’s hiring and training practices.
- Assumptions about fault based on injury outcomes are premature without verified facts.
- Only by gathering all the evidence can the right parties be held accountable for what happened.
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