Meeks sentenced to 12 years in connection with 2017 death of Curtis Wilson

A Cullman man found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in connection with the 2017 traffic death of a Cullman High School student has been sentenced to a combined 12 years in prison.

Bradford Neal Meeks, 29, was sentenced Tuesday by Circuit Judge Greg Nicholas. A jury found Meeks guilty earlier this year of criminally negligent homicide, as well as third degree assault, improper lane usage, and DUI with a blood alcohol level greater than .08.

At trial in January, Meeks avoided a jury conviction on more severe charges of either reckless murder or manslaughter. Meeks was intoxicated and behind the wheel of the vehicle that collided with a second vehicle, in which 15 year-old Curtis James Wilson was a passenger, at the time of the accident that claimed Wilson’s life in May of 2017.

The accident occurred on County Road 222 near Van’s Sporting Goods. Wilson’s mother, Ashley, was driving the vehicle in which her son was a passenger and was also injured in the crash. Curtis Wilson was taken by helicopter to Children’s Hospital in Birmingham, but later succumbed to injuries he sustained in the accident.

Meeks was also transported by helicopter to UAB with severe injuries in the wake of the accident. Ever since his conviction in January, he has been held in the Cullman County Detention Center awaiting sentencing.

Absent any aggravating charges, criminally negligent homicide is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by no more than one year in jail. However, Alabama law provides for a maximum ten-year sentence for the offense when, as in Meeks’ case, the charge is accompanied by an aggravating DUI conviction.