Sarah Rose Tisdale: Alabama woman charged with murder in DUI crash that killed Bessemer couple
HOOVER, ALABAMA: A 34-year-old Alabama woman has been arrested after she allegedly caused a head-on car crash while driving her SUV on the wrong side of the road in October, 2023, killing a married couple in the other vehicle as per Law and Crime.
Sarah Rose Tisdale, who was said to be under the influence of multiple illegal narcotics at the time of the collision, was taken into custody on Friday, January 5, and charged with two counts of murder and one count of reckless endangerment in the tragic deaths of 64-year-old Teresa Roberts and 67-year-old George Roberts, authorities announced.
Accused drove into opposite lane of travel
According to a news release from the Hoover Police Department, the Hoover 911 Center received a call at about 6.19 am on October 31, 2023, that two vehicles had crashed on John Hawkins Parkway, about 15 miles south of Birmingham, Alabama.
Police say that their initial investigation revealed that Tisdale was driving her Lexus RX 350 west on John Hawkins Parkway at Mars Hill Road, with a toddler inside, when she “crossed into the opposite lane of travel and struck a Nissan Rouge traveling east".
"Both occupants of the Nissan Rouge, Teresa Roberts and George Roberts of Bessemer, Alabama, died at the scene of the crash,” police said.
According to investigators, Tisdale was treated for severe injuries at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital. With only minor wounds, the 3-year-old passenger in the Lexus with Tisdale was sent to the Children's Hospital of Alabama.
"Investigators from the Hoover Police Traffic Homicide Unit arrived at the scene to reconstruct the collision and identify the contributing circumstances," the release says.
Accused was driving under the influence at the time of crash
The release also said that, “At the completion of the investigation, investigators determined that the driver of the Lexus RX 350 was under the influence of multiple controlled substances at the time of the crash.”
After the police investigation, the Jefferson County-Bessemer District Attorney's Office was consulted on the case, and an arrest warrant for Tisdale was issued.
After being arrested, Tisdale was moved to the Hoover City Jail at first. She was then taken to the Jefferson County Jail, where she is currently being held without bond.
According to records, Tisdale was detained and charged with possessing synthetic narcotics, a restricted substance, and drug paraphernalia in April 2021.
The month after, she was detained once more and accused of one incident of second-degree domestic abuse. As of Saturday, January 6 night, the ultimate outcome of those cases was not immediately apparent.
