An Alabama man is accused of two separate fatal hit-and-run crashes that occurred a few months apart, and authorities believe he was under the influence of alcohol during both crimes.
Antonio Tremayne Weldon Jr., 24, faces two counts of reckless manslaughter, according to court records. He is being held at the Jefferson County Jail.
On October 26, 2024, Braylen Hardy, 13, was struck by a car while sitting on an ATV in front of his house.
Hardy enjoyed riding the ATV with his father, according to his uncle Billy Fagness, of Birmingham-based Fox affiliate WBRC. According to Fagness, when Hardy returned home that Saturday night, he parked on the grass and sidewalk in front of his house before being hit by a reckless driver who jumped the curb.
Birmingham police said at the time that shots were fired near where Hardy was hit, and that a vehicle speeding away from the scene collided with the child, according to AL.com.
The driver, allegedly Weldon, fled his car after the crash but was apprehended a few blocks away. He was reportedly facing charges from two months ago for attempting to elude, reckless endangerment, and receiving stolen property.
Hardy was critically injured and placed on a ventilator at a nearby hospital. Three days later, he died.
The Birmingham Police Department told Law&Crime that after being detained near the crash that killed Hardy, Weldon was interrogated but eventually released. The department gathered evidence, and on Tuesday, July 8, “the case was presented” to the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office, he was charged with the crime.
Another tragedy happened this spring.
On March 29, 2025, a Friday night about five months later, 34-year-old Michelle Lynn Dickerson is said to have been hit and killed by a vehicle while riding a bicycle in Birmingham. She died the following day.
Weldon was arrested for the March crash last month. It is not clear whether the same vehicle was used in both crimes.
Authorities believe alcohol was a factor in both fatal crashes. Hardy’s family struggled to understand how such a tragedy could happen.
“It is rough,” Fagness told WBRC a few days after the crash. “It feels like we are in a nightmare. It is as if we can not wake up from our nightmare.”
Weldon is being held in the Jefferson County Jail under a $30,000 bond.
