Mobile man charged with murder in deaths of Creola couple killed when truck hit house

CREOLA, Al.

James Daniel Alred

A man accused of crashing a pickup truck into a house in Creola, killing a couple as they slept, was arrested this evening and charged with two counts of murder, authorities said.
 
Police say the driver was intoxicated at the time of the crash.
 
James Daniel Alred, 21, was being held at the Mobile County Metro Jail after his arrest, Creola Police Chief Jerry Taylor said in a news release.
 
The victims were identified as Ronnie Lee, 47, and Josephine Lee, 51.
 
According to authorities, a pickup truck crashed into the Lees’ house on Old U.S. 43 sometime between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. Friday, but the crash was not discovered until a neighbor noticed the damage to the house at about 7 a.m. The driver of the truck had fled the scene on foot, police said.
 
Police arrived to find the truck had crashed through the wall into a bedroom. The Lees were pronounced dead at the scene.
 
Taylor said Friday it appeared that the driver of the full-size Chevy Silverado four-wheel-drive pickup truck was speeding when the vehicle left the road and smashed into the bedroom.
 
During the course of the investigation, Taylor’s release said, Alred was identifed as the driver of the truck, and it was determined that he was under the influence of alcohol at the time.
 
According to Metro Jail records, Alred lives in the 11000 block of Neshota Drive in Mobile. He is scheduled for a bond hearing Monday morning.
 
Taylor, in his news release, thanked Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich for her “invaluable guidance and assistance during the course of the investigation.”