Jeriah Roberts Wrongful Death Lawsuit, Father Sues Cement-Truck Driver and Bay Concrete After Fatal Kushla McLeod Road Crash in Mobile County, Alabama

Fred Roberts Jr. has reportedly filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a cement-truck driver and Bay Concrete after the September 2, 2026 crash that killed his 21-year-old son, Jeriah Roberts, on Kushla McLeod Road in Mobile County, Alabama.

According to local reporting, the lawsuit alleges the truck driver negligently caused the collision and that Bay Concrete knew or should have known the driver lacked the skill and care to operate the vehicle safely.

Reporting on the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) crash report says the driver told investigators he became distracted while looking for a wallet that had fallen onto the floorboard and realized the truck had crossed the center line. The family’s attorney has questioned whether that account explains everything. A participant’s statement is not a judicial finding.

This is an individual wrongful death lawsuit, not a class action. There is no public settlement fund, claim form or deadline for other people to apply for compensation.

Verification note: The original complaint and the crash report were not independently retrieved. The case number, formal caption, exact defendant names, counts and damages demand should be confirmed with the Mobile County Circuit Clerk before anyone relies on them.

Jeriah Roberts Wrongful Death Lawsuit: Quick Facts

Detail	Information
Deceased	Jeriah C. Roberts, 21, of Eight Mile, Alabama
Date of crash	September 2, 2026, at about 11:48 a.m., per published reporting
Location	Kushla McLeod Road near U.S. 45, Mobile County, Alabama
Reported plaintiff	Fred Roberts Jr., the victim’s father
Defendants named in reporting	Truck driver Garrick D. Johnson and Bay Concrete
Court	Mobile County Circuit Court (Alabama’s Thirteenth Judicial Circuit)
Case caption and number	Not independently verified
Vehicles	2023 Mack concrete mixer truck; 2023 Chevrolet Camaro
Main allegations	Negligence by the driver; negligent hiring, retention or related failures by Bay Concrete (counts need confirmation)
Status	Lawsuit reported filed by October 20, 2026; docket details unverified
Settlement amount	None announced
Public claim form or deadline	None

What Happened in the September 2, 2026 Kushla McLeod Road Crash in Mobile County?

Jeriah Roberts was driving a 2023 Chevrolet Camaro when it collided with a 2023 Mack concrete mixer truck on Kushla McLeod Road near U.S. 45. ALEA identified Roberts as the person killed. The truck driver, identified in news reports as Garrick D. Johnson, 55, of Prichard, was injured and taken to a Mobile hospital.

Reports on the investigation say both vehicles left the roadway, the truck overturned onto the Camaro, and the Camaro caught fire. Roberts died at the scene. His father was reportedly driving a separate vehicle ahead of him and returned to the scene. The family’s lawyers say the crash may have been preventable and have called for a full investigation.

The complaint gives the family a civil process to seek a legal finding of responsibility. Filing it does not prove that the driver or Bay Concrete caused the death through legally actionable negligence.

What Does the Roberts Lawsuit Allege Against Bay Concrete?

As described in published reports, the complaint alleges the driver’s negligence caused the fatal collision. It also challenges Bay Concrete’s responsibility for putting the driver behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle. These are allegations, not established facts, and the company’s response has not been verified.

Why Can Bay Concrete Be Held Liable for a Cement-Truck Driver’s Crash Under Alabama Law?

A commercial driver can be personally liable for negligent driving. Depending on the facts, the employer or vehicle owner may also be liable under several theories:

• Negligent operation. The driver allegedly failed to use reasonable care.
• Respondeat superior. A company can be responsible for an employee’s negligence within the scope of employment.
• Negligent hiring, retention, training or supervision. The company must have known, or should have known, the driver posed a foreseeable risk and failed to act. These claims turn on what Bay Concrete actually knew about the driver’s record and qualifications.
• Negligent entrustment. Allowing someone to use a vehicle when the owner knows or should know the person is unfit to drive it.

Which theories apply depends on the complaint and the evidence.

What Federal Trucking Rules Could Apply to the Bay Concrete Mixer Truck?

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (49 C.F.R. Parts 390–399) set standards for commercial drivers and carriers, including:

• Driver qualification files (Part 391)
• Driving rules, including bans on hand-held phone use and driving while ill or fatigued (Part 392)
• Hours of service (Part 395)
• Vehicle inspection, repair and maintenance (Part 396)
• Commercial driver’s licensing (Part 383)

These rules apply directly to carriers operating in interstate commerce. Alabama has adopted versions of them for many intrastate operations, so whether a specific rule governs a local cement-mixer operation depends on how Bay Concrete operates. That question is for the evidence, not for this article.

What Does the Alabama Crash Report Say About Driver Distraction?

The reported account says the driver was looking for his wallet when the truck crossed the center line. If accurate, that statement is relevant evidence, but it does not decide liability. Alabama’s rules of the road require drivers to stay on the right side of the roadway (Ala. Code § 32-5A-80) and prohibit reckless driving (§ 32-5A-190), and a civil jury would weigh all of the evidence, not one account.

Evidence that may matter includes the original crash report and scene diagram, photographs and measurements, witness statements, vehicle damage, truck electronic control module (ECM) and telematics data if available, and the employment, training and qualification records relevant to the claims against Bay Concrete. Families usually cannot get several of these items without a formal request or legal process, which is one reason early preservation letters are common in truck crash cases.

How Does Alabama Code § 6-5-410 Apply to the Jeriah Roberts Wrongful Death Lawsuit?

Alabama Code § 6-5-410 allows a civil action for a death caused by another person’s wrongful act, omission or negligence, if the deceased could have sued had the death not occurred. The action must be brought by the deceased person’s personal representative.

Reports identify Fred Roberts Jr. as the plaintiff. Because § 6-5-410 requires a personal representative, the complaint should be checked to confirm he sued in that capacity. A personal representative is typically appointed through the probate court, so appointment records are also worth checking.

Why Are Wrongful Death Damages in Alabama Punitive and Not Compensatory?

Alabama is unusual because damages under § 6-5-410 are punitive. Alabama Supreme Court decisions, including King v. National Spa and Pool Institute, explain that the statute punishes wrongful conduct and deters similar conduct. It does not compensate the family for lost income, funeral costs or loss of companionship in the way many other states do.

Related rules matter here:

• Burden of proof. Alabama’s punitive damages statute, Ala. Code § 6-11-20, requires clear and convincing evidence of conscious or reckless wrongful conduct for punitive damages in general. How that standard is applied in a statutory wrongful death case is a legal question for the court.
• Caps. Alabama’s general caps on punitive damages in § 6-11-21 are widely read to exclude wrongful death actions. Confirm that against the current statute.
• Defenses. Alabama still follows contributory negligence in many negligence cases, and defendants can raise it. How it plays out in a § 6-5-410 action is a question for the court.
• Distribution. Any recovery is distributed under Alabama’s statute of distribution (the intestate succession law in Title 43, Chapter 8), not by the personal representative’s choice.

Because the damages are punitive, the evidence about the defendants’ conduct drives the case more than the victim’s projected lifetime earnings.

What Is Alabama’s Deadline to File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit Under Ala. Code § 6-2-38?

Alabama Code § 6-2-38(a) generally requires a § 6-5-410 action to be brought within two years of the death. For a September 2, 2026 death, that period would ordinarily run to September 2, 2028. This is a rule for filing a lawsuit, not a claim deadline for the public, and the actual filing date in this case should be confirmed from the docket.

What Happens Next in the Jeriah Roberts Lawsuit Against Bay Concrete?

1. Confirm the court record. The Mobile County Circuit Clerk keeps circuit civil records. The Circuit Civil Division lists 251-574-8420. See the Mobile County Circuit Civil Division page for records routes.

2. Defendants respond. Once served, defendants generally have 30 days to answer under Ala. R. Civ. P. 12(a), unless extended, and can raise defenses or file motions. No response date should be stated without reviewing the docket.

3. Evidence is gathered. If the case proceeds, discovery can include depositions, crash and vehicle evidence, ECM data, driver qualification and training records, and company policies.

4. Settlement or trial. Many wrongful death cases settle, and others go through pretrial motions and trial. No settlement has been announced as of October 21, 2026.

Is There a Claim Form or Class Settlement in the Jeriah Roberts Case?

No. There is no claims administrator, claim form or general deadline. Other drivers, passengers or families cannot apply for money from this case, and anyone with a separate accident must assess that incident on its own facts. A consumer settlement program lets a defined group claim from a common fund. This case does not.

Are Wrongful Death Recoveries in Alabama Taxable Under Federal Law?

Federal tax law has a specific provision here. Under 26 U.S.C. § 104(a)(2), damages received because of personal physical injuries are generally excluded from income, but punitive damages usually are not. In O’Gilvie v. United States, 519 U.S. 79 (1996), the Supreme Court held that punitive damages from a wrongful death suit were taxable. Congress later added § 104(c), which excludes punitive damages in wrongful death cases where state law, as it stood on September 13, 1995, allows only punitive damages. Alabama is the state most often associated with that rule, but how it applies to any family’s recovery should be reviewed by a tax professional.

What Are Attorney Fees in Alabama Wrongful Death Cases?

No fee terms are public in this case. In general, wrongful death plaintiffs’ lawyers work on contingency, which means the fee is paid only if there is a recovery. Under Rule 1.5(c) of the Alabama Rules of Professional Conduct, a contingent fee agreement must be in writing and state how the fee and expenses are calculated. Fee terms vary and should be confirmed with counsel.

What Should Families Know About Fatal Commercial-Truck Crashes in Alabama?

Families can protect their position by keeping photographs, witness details, emergency and medical records, vehicle information and communications with insurers. A crash report alone does not prove every fact, and a company defendant does not guarantee a recovery.

For a broader explanation of how these cases work, see Wrongful Death Lawyer What Families Can Sue for and How the Process Works. For comparison with a very different fact pattern, see Dutton Estates vs. Greg Biffle Estate, The $30 Million Wrongful Death Lawsuits From the Statesville Plane Crash. It involves different defendants and law and does not predict the outcome here.

Jeriah Roberts Wrongful Death Lawsuit Timeline

Date	Event
September 2, 2026	Fatal collision on Kushla McLeod Road near U.S. 45; ALEA identifies Jeriah C. Roberts as the person killed
September 4, 2026	Greene & Phillips announces it was retained to investigate and pursue a wrongful death claim
October 6, 2026	Local reporting describes the crash report’s account of driver distraction
October 20–21, 2026	Local reporting says Fred Roberts Jr. filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Mobile County Circuit Court
As of October 21, 2026	Docket number, caption and defendant names not independently confirmed

Frequently Asked Questions About the Jeriah Roberts Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Who filed the Jeriah Roberts wrongful death lawsuit?

Local reporting identifies his father, Fred Roberts Jr. The complaint should confirm whether he sued as personal representative, as Alabama law requires.

Who are the defendants in the Jeriah Roberts lawsuit?

Reports name truck driver Garrick D. Johnson and Bay Concrete. The exact legal name of the company and the full list of defendants should be confirmed from the complaint.

What caused the Kushla McLeod Road crash?

The reported crash-report account says the driver was distracted while looking for a wallet and noticed the truck had crossed the center line. The original report was not independently retrieved, and no court has made a finding on cause.

Is the Jeriah Roberts lawsuit a class action?

No. It is reported as an individual wrongful death lawsuit.

Can other families file a claim in the Jeriah Roberts case?

No. There is no public claim form or general claims process.

What does Alabama Code § 6-5-410 require?

It authorizes a wrongful death action for a death caused by a wrongful act, omission or negligence and requires the personal representative to bring it. Alabama courts treat the damages as punitive.

How long does Alabama give a family to file a wrongful death lawsuit?

Generally two years from the death under Ala. Code § 6-2-38(a).

How much money is the Jeriah Roberts family seeking?

A damages demand has not been verified from the complaint, and no settlement has been announced.

Has Bay Concrete responded to the lawsuit?

No verified response was located. The docket should be checked for an answer or motion.

When will the Jeriah Roberts case go to trial?

No trial date has been confirmed.

Official Sources and Legal References for the Jeriah Roberts Lawsuit

1. Alabama Law Enforcement Agency: Crash report request information. The original report must be obtained to verify the account.
2. Mobile County Circuit Court: Circuit Civil Division
3. Ala. Code § 6-5-410: Wrongful death statute
4. Ala. Code § 6-2-38: Two-year limitations period
5. Alabama Supreme Court: King v. National Spa and Pool Institute
6. Plaintiffs’ counsel: Greene & Phillips announcement
7. Other authorities cited: Ala. Code §§ 6-11-20, 6-11-21, 32-5A-80, 32-5A-190; Ala. R. Civ. P. 12(a); Ala. R. Prof. Conduct 1.5(c); 49 C.F.R. Parts 383, 390–399; 26 U.S.C. § 104(a)(2), (c); O’Gilvie v. United States, 519 U.S. 79 (1996)

Disclaimer: This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. AllAboutLawyer.com is a legal information website, not a law firm. Lawsuit allegations are not findings of liability.

Researched and written by Israr Ahmad, legal content researcher and founder of AllAboutLawyer.com. Facts checked against the official Alabama Code, the Mobile County Circuit Court website, ALEA’s records information and published reporting, as of October 21, 2026; the original complaint and crash report were not independently retrieved. Last Updated: October 21, 2026.