Tuscaloosa County Woman Charged After Man Killed In 2021 Collision

TUSCALOOSA, AL — A Tuscaloosa County woman has been arrested and charged with criminally negligent homicide in relation to a 2021 collision that killed a motorcycle driver from Moundville.

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Lakiasha Yvonne Jones, 39, was arrested Tuesday and later released from the Tuscaloosa County Jail after her bond was set at $5,000, according to court records obtained by Patch. A grand jury handed down an indictment on April 6 to charge Jones in the death of Dwyen “Dwayne” Fred Earnest, 54.

Earnest was driving a 2004 Yamaha motorcycle on Alabama Highway 69 South, two miles south of Tuscaloosa, at 11:47 p.m. on May 31. Investigators believe Jones ran a stop sign before Earnest crashed into her 2020 Dodge Challenger. Both drivers were hospitalized with injuries, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said at the time, with Earnest later dying from his injuries.

Earnest was originally from Berry, according to his obituary, but lived in Moundville at the time of his death.

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