Sumter grand jury hears story of Livingston fatals

By By William F. West / community editor
Sept. 25, 2002
LIVINGSTON, Ala. Police here are seeking a quick indictment against the driver of a car whom they believe struck two Butler residents near a fraternity house just off the University of West Alabama campus.
James Ellis Ford, 22, remained free on $71,500 bond today after being arrested Friday and charged with murder, vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of accident and driving under the influence, Livingston Public Safety Director Ashley Welborn said.
Welborn identified Ford as the driver of a Mazda 626 that hit Chadwick Langford and Joanna Greene at about 2 a.m. near the Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity house. Welborn said Ford, of Oakman, a town near Jasper, was arrested after returning to the scene, but posted bond later that evening.
Langford, 29, died after being rushed to Hill Hospital in York. Greene, 26, died Monday at 6:13 p.m. at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.
Welborn said Tuesday that the district attorney's office decided to go to Sumter County grand jurors with information about both deaths because the panel happened to be in session this week.
Livingston police are working the case because the accident happened in the city, but University of West Alabama President Richard Holland is also conducting his own probe.
Funeral services for Greene are scheduled for Thursday at 11 a.m. at Morgan Chapel Baptist Church, with burial in the church cemetery under the direction of Bumpers Funeral Home in Butler. Visitation is today from 6 p.m.-9 p.m. at the funeral home.
Greene was an assistant registrar at the University of West Alabama and was also an alumna of the university, which has about 2,000 students.
Funeral services for Langford were held Sunday in the South Alabama town of Luverne, where he grew up.