Victim of fatal wrong-way I-65 crash identified as 34-year-old Hoover woman

The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office today identified the victim of a fatal crash on Interstate 65 Sunday morning as 34-year-old Crystal Lavonne Ponder of Hoover.

Ponder was the passenger in a Honda Accord headed south on I-65 when it collided with a silver Chevrolet Cruze going the wrong direction about 3:46 a.m. Sunday, Hoover police said.

Ponder was pronounced dead on the scene at 4:01 a.m., Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates said.

A man driving the Accord and a child in the vehicle, both with the same last name as Ponder, were hospitalized as a result of the crash.

The wreck happened between Alford Avenue and U.S. 31. The driver of the silver Chevrolet Cruze left the scene on foot but was spotted walking on Alford Avenue by police and taken into custody, Lt. Keith Czeskleba said. He is still being held in the Hoover Jail this morning, pending formal charges, Czeskleba said.

The driver and a passenger of a third vehicle involved in the wreck, a black Chevrolet Cruze, were taken to UAB Hospital with minor injuries, police said.