A high-speed pursuit that began in Hartselle ended with a fatal collision in Cullman on the morning of May 24, 2024. Officers first tried to stop a vehicle observed driving erratically on U.S. Highway 31; the driver, later identified as 39-year-old Michael Ivy of Middleton, Tennessee, refused to stop and led pursuing officers into Cullman at speeds reported between 60 and 100 miles per hour, running multiple red lights.

The chase ended in front of the Town Square Shopping Center when Ivy’s vehicle struck another car. The occupant of that vehicle, 77-year-old mother and grandmother Ellarea Dickson, was fatally injured and pronounced dead at the scene. Dickson’s niece, a passenger, was critically injured and taken to a local hospital. Ivy was injured, treated at a hospital, and then taken into custody.

Ivy was charged with attempting to elude police, a felony; authorities said additional charges, including reckless endangerment, could be sought. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency assumed the investigation. If anyone witnessed the pursuit or the crash in Cullman that morning, does that information still exist to share with investigators?