A 31-year-old Alabama man was arrested and charged with reckless murder in connection with the death of a Mount Vernon police officer in a wreck that occurred in Summerdale.
Baldwin County jail records show charges against Tyler Lee Henderson are murder, first-degree assault, driving with a suspended license and an ignition interlock violation.
Officials in Summerdale say Henderson caused the August 22 wreck on Highway 59 that led to the death of Officer Ivan Lopez. They say the pickup truck driven by Henderson at a high rate of speed ran through a stop sign, striking Lopez’s vehicle.
At a news conference today, they described the crash as an explosion and said Lopez was killed on impact.
Henderson was required to have an interlock device on his car because of past DUI convictions, according to officials. He did not have one at the time of the fatal wreck, they said.
Mount Vernon Police Chief Duncan Herrington described Lopez as a true community police officer — saying he would take people to the store and play dominoes with seniors at the senior center.
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