Suspect tossed package over Fountain prison fence, fled scene

A Foley man died in a two-vehicle wreck Wednesday a short time after tossing a package of the fence of the G.K. Fountain Correctional Facility, according to the Alabama Department of Corrections.

Bob Horton, public information manager with the ADOC, said at 12:05 p.m. on Oct. 12, correctional officials at Fountain reported a suspicious vehicle just south of the facility’s barrier fence with two unknown occupants inside.

Horton said the vehicle fled the property after a male suspect tossed a package of the fence.

“Investigators from the Department of Corrections pursued the vehicle along Highway 21 and then onto Interstate 65 south,” Horton said. “Investigators said the suspects exited the interstate and was struck by a second vehicle.”

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said that at 12:40 p.m., the suspects’ vehicle, a 1999 Toyota Avalon, collided with a 2003 Chevrolet Trailblazer on the offramp of the interstate at the intersection of Highway 59 (exit 34).

“Thirty-six-year-old Clint Travis Hunley of Foley, a passenger in the Toyota, was pronounced dead at the scene,” Horton said. “The driver is identified as Jody Lynn Mikel, 26, of Trafford. Mikel was treated at a local hospital for minor injuries.

“The driver of the Trailblazer was taken to a local hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries,” he said.

The package that the male suspect threw over the prison fence contained 25 cell phones, cell phone chargers, and 183 grams of synthetic marijuana, Horton said.

Mikel was arrested for reckless murder and faces additional charges for prohibited activity on prison property, trafficking of a controlled substance and promoting prison contraband.

Alabama State Troopers continue to investigate the crash.