Northport Man Charged With Reckless Murder for Alleged Wrong-Way DUI Crash That Killed Florida Woman

A Northport man has been arrested and charged with reckless murder for a September crash that killed a 21-year-old Florida woman on U.S. Highway 82 near Tuscaloosa.

Kenneth Paige Fields, 39, is accused of driving drunk and traveling the wrong way on the highway when his pickup struck a car head-on the night of Wednesday, September 16, killing Ariel Swan Burcham of Valrico, Florida.

Fields was booked into the Tuscaloosa County Jail on Tuesday and remains there on a $500,000 bond.

Before his arrest, Fields was the man previously identified only as a 39-year-old Northport resident injured in the wreck. He was taken to DCH Regional Medical Center the night of the crash.

Wrong Way on 82

Troopers with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said in September that Burcham was driving a 2026 Kia K4 that collided head-on with a 2013 Ford F-150 near mile marker 59, about five miles east of Tuscaloosa, around 10:45 p.m. She died at the scene.

A deposition filed on Wednesday fills in the details of what Troopers found in their investigation. Fields was allegedly driving eastbound in the westbound lanes of U.S. 82 when he struck Burcham's car, and was operating the truck while under the influence of alcohol. Both vehicles were a total loss.

The deposition records an ethanol reading of 301 milligrams per deciliter for Fields - that's close to four times Alabama's legal limit of 0.08 percent for driving.

Charges and Bond

The reckless murder charge covers a death caused by conduct that creates a grave risk of death and shows extreme indifference to human life. The statute does not require that a defendant intended to kill.

Like other murders, it is a Class A felony in Alabama. District Judge Joanne Jannik ruled early this week to set Fields' bond at $500,000 cash.

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