Local native killed
Published 10:50 am Wednesday, September 26, 2007
By By Lisa Tindell
news editor
Friends and family are mourning a Brewton native who was among three people dead in a Sunday night accident near Walnut Grove in north Alabama.
Kelly Stallworth Horner, 34, was killed when the 2007 Toyota Camry she was driving veered into oncoming traffic on a curve about 7:48 p.m. Etowah County according to Michael Gladden, coroner for Etowah County.
Gladden said Horner’s 4-year-old son, Charles Cade Horner, was listed in serious condition at Huntsville Hospital on Monday following the accident. The child was restrained properly in the back seat of the automobile at the time of the accident, he said.
McGougin said Horner was always bubbly and just a generally wonderful person.
Faye Hicks, a friend of the family, said Horner was “full of life.”
Members of Horner’s family are coping with the loss of their loved one as best they can, according to her brother, Matt Stallworth.
Stallworth said the family is setting up a scholarship fund in Kelly’s memory to help graduating students in Escambia County.
Billy Royce Ashworth, 63, of Altoona was the driver of the second automobile. He was killed instantly in the accident. The third fatality was Onzell Brannon Webb, 84, of Altoona, who was sitting behind Ashworth at the time of the accident. She died while being transported by helicopter to Huntsville Hospital.
Gladden said Horner and her son had spent the weekend in Cullman and were returning to their home in Georgia at the time of the accident.
All those involved in the wreck were wearing seat belts and the front and side air bags in both cars deployed, Gladden said.
Horner, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Stallworth, was a 1991 graduate of T.R. Miller High School where she earned many honors.
The 1991 Tiger Roar, the school yearbook, listed her accomplishments as being a member of the Spanish club, choir, pep club, FCA, Bible club, science club, track team, basketball team, a representative for the student council, FHA, SAFE, FBLA, and served as a cheerleader throughout her high school years.
Stallworth was named Who’s Who Among American High School Students, was chosen class president and class historian and was voted best all around and best looking in the list of Senior Who’s Who. She was also named the Escambia County Young Woman of the Year and was chosen as Miss Agriculture for the county and went on to win the title in state competition in 1995.
Horner is survived by her husband, Rodney David Horner and a son, Charles Cade Horner, both of Villa Rica, Ga.; a brother and sister-in-law, Matthew Frederick and Shay Snyder Stallworth; her parents, Fred and Carolyn Stallworth; her grandmother, Emma Patterson; and many friends and relatives.
Visitation services will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at Faith Chapel North in Cantonment, Fla., which is located at 1000 U.S. Highway 29 South.
Funeral services will be held at First Baptist Church in Brewton Saturday at 1 p.m. Burial will follow in the Rock Holiness Cemetery.
The Rev. Joel S. McGraw, the Rev. Tyler Brown and the Rev. James Pugh will officiate at the services.