Teen dies after being hit by truck

RUSSELLVILLE - A teenager was killed Friday morning when he was struck by a pickup truck while walking on Alabama 24, authorities said.

Russellville Police Chief Chris Hargett identified the victim as Cordarrell "Cord" Ramon Tiggs, 19, 100 Stonecrest Apartments, Russellville.

Reports indicate the accident happened just after 1 a.m. on Alabama 24, just east of the Alabama 243 intersection.

Russellville police Capt. Shannon Oliver said Tiggs was apparently walking west in the outside westbound lane of Alabama 24 when he was struck.

Oliver said Tiggs was struck by a 1992 Ford Ranger. The driver of the truck was not injured.

Tiggs was pronounced dead at the scene by Franklin County Coroner Elzie Malone.

Malone said Tiggs likely died on impact from multiple blunt force trauma to the body.

"There were a lot of fractures, multiple fractures," Malone said.

Emergency personnel at the scene said Tiggs' body flipped over the hood of the truck and landed in the bed of the pickup. Authorities at the scene said the impact knocked him out of his socks, shoes and pants.

Oliver said that according to the driver of the truck, he came up on Tiggs and didn't see him in the middle of the roadway.

Hargett said the place where the wreck happened is a very dark section of the roadway.

Reports indicate Tiggs had apparently left a family member's house at Russell D'villa Apartments, which is just east of where the accident happened, and was walking home.

Oliver said Tiggs did not have any identification on him at the time of the accident. He said it wasn't until later Friday morning that family members made a positive identification of the body.

This is the second fatality in Russellville this year. Both have been on Alabama 24, within a half-mile of each other.

Tiggs is the 50th person to die in traffic accidents this year in the Northwest Alabama region and the southern Tennessee counties of Wayne and Lawrence. The fatality is the third so far in the month of October.

Tom Smith can be reached at 740-5757 or tom.smith@TimesDaily.com.