UWA student charged in deaths
By Stephanie Hoops
Staff Writer
September 26, 2002
More local news... LIVINGSTON | The community of Livingston and University of West Alabama are mourning the deaths of a man and woman who were struck and killed by a 22-year-old student who police say was drunk while driving.
“This is the first time anything of this magnitude’s happened involving the college in the 17 years that I’ve been here," Livingston Police Chief Ashley Welborn said. “The mood of the community is shock ... upset ... disbelief that this actually happened."
UWA student James Ellis Ford, 22, of Oakman has been charged with murder and leaving the scene of an accident in connection with the deaths of Joanna Green, 27, and Chadwick Langford, 29, both of Butler.
In an interview, Janice Signs, who identified herself as Ford’s aunt, said Ford did not know the couple and did not leave the scene, as police said.
“He says that they just walked out in front of the car, and he wasn’t going fast," Signs said. “He is a good kid. The whole family is terribly upset. This makes him sound so bad, but I wish his side of it could be heard."
A funeral will be in Toxey for Green, an alumna of the university who worked as a staff assistant in the registrar’s office. Green is a native of the Choctaw County town.
“We’re just in a stupor over everything," university president Richard D. Holland said. “Particularly in the administration building since she worked just down the hall and was a former student. We’re just appalled."
Green was at the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity house on the outskirts of campus Thursday night and into Friday morning with Langford, Holland said. He said that as far as he knows, Langford had no connection with the university.
The fraternity was hosting a “Jungle Party" Thursday through Saturday, according to the TKE web site.
Ford struck Green and Langford in front of the TKE house on Hopkins Street as they were leaving the party at around 2:14 a.m., according to police.
Langford was killed instantly, Holland said, and Green died Tuesday at a hospital in Jackson, Miss.
“The party was breaking up, and there was a group of people there," Welborn said.
The school’s counseling center has been working with distraught students and fraternity members.
“We have lost a member of our family without exaggeration," Holland said of Green.
Welborn said Ford did not attend the TKE party, and he did not know where Ford had allegedly become intoxicated.
The TKE house in Livingston has not been a problem for police, Welborn said.
“I mean fraternity houses, you’re going to have loud music calls, but it’s not a problem area by any stretch of the imagination," he said. “We don’t station officers there when they have parties."
Ford is still a student at the university, Holland said. He has also been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and vehicular homicide. According to the Sumter County Jail, Ford was released Friday with bail set at $71,000.
Sumter County District Attorney Nathan Watkins did not return phone calls seeking comment.
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