Questions Persist As Fatal Wrong-Way Crash Puts Spotlight On Alabama Dram Shop Act

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Aliceville High School junior KeJavien Summerville preferred to be called "K.J." and was a beloved part of his Pickens County community known for his "big hugs."

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The bespectacled, broad-shouldered 16-year-old had played basketball and football for the Yellow Jackets, was actively involved with his school's chapter of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) and an only child who loved shopping with his Mama.

An official source told Patch that K.J., his 19-year-old cousin and a close friend had plans to shop on Black Friday the morning of Nov. 29 and even stopped to eat at Waffle House before hitting the stores in Tuscaloosa to take advantage of the holiday deals.

K.J. was in the front passenger seat of a brand-new Nissan Versa as the trio crossed from Northport into Tuscaloosa on the Hugh Thomas Bridge around 2:45 a.m. when a 2013 Jeep Wrangler with its headlights turned off and traveling the wrong way at a dangerous speed slammed into the front of the car.

K.J. had big dreams, especially graduating from college, but died an hour away from home on a bridge in Tuscaloosa County.

His cousin and close friend who were both in the car sustained serious injuries, with his cousin suffering a broken femur. She has since been released from the hospital but will have a metal rod in her leg for the rest of her life.

By all accounts, the other female victim who was in the back seat of the car at the time of the crash is in even worse physical shape as of the publication of this story.

"[K.J.] had lots of family in Pickens County," Tuscaloosa attorney North Patterson of the Patterson Law Firm told Patch in an interview at his office on Hargrove Road Thursday. "They are a sweet, sweet family and very supportive of one another, leaning on one another, caring for one another during this time. As awful as this situation is, they still have each other and are relying on family and the Lord to get them through it."

Patterson and his father, longtime Tuscaloosa attorney Paul Patterson, are representing K.J.'s mother, Shakeria Lanier, as the plaintiff in an 11-count wrongful death civil lawsuit against the driver of the Jeep, Rachel Marie Robinson, and Copper Top — a popular bar in Tuscaloosa's Temerson Square where Robinson had allegedly been a patron right before the fatal crash on the Hugh Thomas Bridge.

"This is sad no matter what," North Patterson said. "What makes this even worse is that this sweet family was looking forward to Christmas shopping and looking forward to spending the holidays together. Now they don't have [K.J.]. This death and those injuries to the other two victims were forced upon their families."

The official traffic complaint from the crash obtained by Patch says that Robinson's BAC was 0.05 but a further examination of the document suggests that this resulted from a breathalyzer test conducted at 8:46 a.m. the morning of the crash.

While unconfirmed in official court documents, trusted sources close to the situation and independent of one another told Patch that Robinson's Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) at the time of the crash was 0.11 — well over Alabama's legal limit of 0.08.

As Patch previously reported, Captain Jack Kennedy, commander of the multi-agency Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit that is currently heading up the investigation, told local media that Robinson was uninjured in the deadly crash but appeared to be under the influence of alcohol.

An Alabama Uniform Traffic Ticket and Complaint from the incident also says that Robinson was not in possession of her driver's license at the time of the crash, which raises additional unanswered questions regarding Copper Top's door policy of carding patrons as it relates to the wrongful death lawsuit against the bar.

Still, a brief video posted to social media and obtained this week by Patch purports to show the Jeep driven by Robinson traveling northbound in the one-way middle lane of the bridge with its headlights off and even passing a southbound vehicle moments before the fatal crash on the Northport side of the bridge.

Robinson, a 29-year-old Northport resident whose home address in police reports is roughly four miles from where the crash occurred, was charged with manslaughter, two counts of first-degree assault and driving under the influence (DUI).

She was released from the Tuscaloosa County Jail in the hours following the wreck and after her bond was set at $60,000.

Court records show she was ordered to report to the Tuscaloosa County Alternative Sentencing Office within 24 hours of her release for pre-trial supervision, which will include random color code drug screening and house arrest under the observation of an ankle monitor.

Robinson is represented in her criminal case by Tuscaloosa defense attorney Mary Turner, who could not be reached for comment.

The deadly crash the morning after Thanksgiving also comes after Patch reported in November when attorneys representing the family of a University of Alabama student who drowned in the Black Warrior River three years ago had added an international fraternity as a defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit against a Tuscaloosa bar.

Indeed, the body of Garrett Walker was recovered on the afternoon of Nov. 9, 2021, following two days of searching after he went missing during the early morning hours.

Walker, who was 19 at the time, was last seen alive on Greensboro Avenue leaving The Gray Lady at 1:15 a.m. the morning he went missing.

The attorneys representing his family have argued that the bar not only served alcohol to a minor but did so in a way that directly contributed to his death.

At present, the Pattersons argue that Copper Top should be held liable for over-serving Robinson and contributing to the events that led to the fatal crash.

Patch has filed a public records request with the City of Tuscaloosa for any and all citations issued to Copper Top over the last five years and will update this story accordingly, albeit the Tuscaloosa City Attorney's Office offered up a high degree of confidence that there had been no major violations by the bar.

"We live in a day and age where calling someone to pick you up from somewhere you've been drinking is right there at your fingertips," North Patterson told Patch. "There is absolutely no excuse for someone to be drunk and get behind the wheel of a vehicle, because these kinds of things are going to happen. People need to be aware that there are consequences for their actions and if you decide that you're drunk and then drive then you're going to be held liable if you hurt or kill somebody."

The challenge faced by the Patterson Law Firm in the wrongful death lawsuit will undoubtedly be found in what is sure to be a lengthy discovery process and overcoming recent changes to Alabama's Dram Shop Act.

"You have to prove the bar knowingly served them when they are too intoxicated," North Patterson said. "That word 'knowingly' in the law changed last year and it's a little bit harder now."

The Alabama Dram Shop Act was first signed into law in 1909 as a pre-Prohibition piece of legislation aimed at protecting communities — businesses, specifically — from liability resulting from the actions of those under the influence of the booze they serve but has since evolved over the decades to become an increasingly pro-business law.

To North Patterson's credit, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey in April 2023 signed reforms passed by the legislature that impose a much more broad standard, softening requirements by placing the onus on the server who is "knowingly" serving an intoxicated patron.

It's worth noting here that Patch reported in 2022 when local officials and business leaders were instrumental in influencing the state to lower the age of those legally permitted to serve alcohol in a restaurant from 19 to 18.

Indeed, both measures were considered major wins at their respective levels.

Behind the 2023 changes to the Dram Shop Act, though, were deep-pocketed heavy-hitter trade groups in Alabama, namely a 10-member collective who came together to sign their names in public support of the bill Ivey signed into law in the spring of 2025:

• Alabama Beverage Licensees Association
• Alabama Brewers Guild
• Alabama Grocers Association
• Alabama Independent Insurance Agents
• Alabama Restaurant and Hospitality Association
• Alabama Retail Association
• Alabama Tourism Partnership
• Business Council of Alabama
• Gulf United Metro Business Organization
• National Federation of Independent Businesses
• The Petroleum and Convenience Marketers of Alabama.

"The law says [the patrons] have to be visibly intoxicated when [the business is] selling or furnishing the alcohol," North Patterson said. "But to look at that 'knowingly,' it's obviously going to be an objective standard for the jury. The person knew or should have known that this person was intoxicated."

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