By By Janet Little Cooper
A single-vehicle accident claimed the life of an Atmore man Sunday afternoon according to Alabama State Trooper reports.
Christopher Anthony Reynolds, 39, of Atmore, was driving a 2003 Chevrolet pick up on Curtis Road, three miles north of Atmore, when he apparently lost control of the vehicle and ran off the road striking a culvert.
"He had been home off the road all weekend," Jimmy Brown owner of Triple B Trucking said. "He had worked for me for a year and was a good employee. This is just one of those bad things that happen. I don't really know what happened, because he was off and he was traveling in the wrong direction to be leaving from the trucking company."
Emergency personnel received the call at 12:55 p.m. Reynolds, who was ejected from his vehicle, was pronounced dead at the scene. Reynolds was not wearing a seat belt, according to troopers.
His body was taken to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences office in Mobile according to the state troopers report. The accident remains under investigation by the Alabama State Troopers department.
Reynolds's mother, Ann Clifton, doesn't know what happened either, other than what she was told by the state troopers. He had gone to his mother's home for a visit earlier that day.
"Chris came over Sunday morning and laid down on the floor to play with my kittens," Clifton said. "I told him that I was so proud of him and he told me not to be proud of him because he messed up all the time. I then told Chris that making mistakes was just like a little baby learning to walk – when they fall down, they get back up and try again. I told him that was what he had to do."
Reynolds lived next door to his mother and his grandmother because he felt that he needed to protect them according to his mother.
"Chris loved life and his family," Clifton said. "He always had a real positive attitude and would give the shirt off his back to anyone. He always said that he was a warrior for the Lord. I know that he can't come back to us, but we can go to him through knowing Jesus Christ, and that is something to be thankful for, because we have something better to look ahead to. We will see him again.
According to Clifton, her son spoke with one of her sisters recently about what to do in the event of his death. He asked to be buried at her church, which was also his grandmothers and told her the songs that he would like to have at his funeral.
"I think back to the times of scolding him as a child and teen and can hear him saying, 'But mama, I love you.'" Clifton said. "I can just hear him in heaven now. He could talk to anybody."
Visitation for Reynolds will be held at Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home Chapel tonight from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m.
Funeral services will take place at 2 p.m. Thursday from the Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home followed by burial at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church.