ATHENS-Athens Police Chief Floyd Johnson issued a release on an ongoing murder investigation from Tuesday night, January 30.
“Last night shortly after 11:00 the police department received a call of an accident on HWY 72 west of Hines Street.
Officers located the accident on HWY 72 near Reynard Street. Officers found a Chrysler minivan in the ditch.
The van had apparently left US 72 and struck a utility pole. The driver Darius Allen had been removed from the vehicle by a relative before officers arrived. Mr. Allen had passed away before emergency personal arrived. To the best of our knowledge he was the only person in the vehicle at the time of the accident.
The relative was across HWY 72 when accident occurred. Allen had been shot several times and the relative told officers that he heard multiple gun shots in coming from the area of HWY 72 and Brownsferry about a minute before the accident.
Officers were able to establish a crime scene at both locations and investigators processed the scenes as quickly as possible.
Power was interrupted in the area including the traffic light on US 72 and Brownsferry for several hours mainly due to the pole they need to replace was in the middle of one of one of the crime scenes.
Allen was 34 years old. I do not have a current address for him but he did live here in Limestone County.
Allen was transported to the Huntsville office of The Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for an autopsy by the Coroner’s office.
This case is currently under investigation and I will not be able to comment further at this time. I will update any information we can release this afternoon. If anyone has any information on this case we ask they call the Athens Police Department at 256-233-8700.”
