Gerald Wayne McRee, 60, was killed in a highway collision in the early morning of Saturday, May 27, 2023. McRee, a grandfather from the River Bend community in West Blocton and born and raised in Bessemer, was driving a 2006 Chevrolet Colorado on Alabama State Route 5 in Bibb County when, at about 5:40 a.m., his truck was struck by a 2013 Toyota Tacoma roughly five miles south of Woodstock. McRee was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Tacoma’s driver, 24-year-old William Brooks Foster of McCalla, was injured and taken to Bibb Medical Center. Investigators alleged Foster had been driving on the wrong side of the highway and had forced another car off the road immediately before the fatal collision. Reports say Foster’s blood alcohol content was 0.157 and that he had a prior DUI charge from April 2020. A Bibb County grand jury returned indictments charging Foster with murder and driving under the influence in December 2023.

Are there details about McRee’s life in River Bend or witnesses to the crash who can help clarify what happened that morning?