Cpl. Steve Smith, public information officer for the Alabama State Troopers, said 17-year-old Karly Jean Meeks was pronounced dead shortly after 5 a.m. Thursday.
He said Meeks and a 17-year-old female from Riverside were in a 1999 Dodge Dakota on Deer Trace Road, three miles north of Pell City, when the vehicle began an out-of-control skid and hit a tree on the passenger side at about 7:15 p.m. Wednesday.
“Speed appears to be the primary cause of the crash,” he said.
Smith said Meeks, a passenger in the pickup truck, was transported by LifeSaver helicopter to University Hospital in Birmingham, and the 17-year-old driver was transported to the same hospital by Regional Paramedical Services.
He said neither teenager was wearing a seatbelt.
Smith said the driver was still in the hospital Thursday afternoon, but she had been moved out of intensive care.
Meeks was a student at Pell City High School.
Alabama State Troopers are investigating the accident.
Contact Elsie Hodnett at ehodnett@dailyhome.com.
