By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – A 22-year-old victim was airlifted to UAB Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, after the vehicle he was driving left the road and struck a tree near the Carmeuse lime plant in Alabaster on the night of Nov. 19.

Alabaster police and firefighters responded to the wreck at 5:13 p.m. after receiving a report of a single-vehicle wreck near the intersection of U.S. 31 and Ozley Road. Alabaster Fire Chief Jim Golden said the vehicle left U.S. 31 and struck a tree off the northbound side of the road near the lime plant.

After extracting the victim from the white Lincoln sedan, emergency responders transported the victim, 22-year-old Wilsonville resident and Shelby County High School graduate Gunter Benson, to UAB Hospital via LifeSaver helicopter, where he was pronounced dead the morning of Nov. 20, according to Alabaster Police Chief Curtis Rigney.

The wreck forced the Alabaster Police Department to close U.S. 31 for about an hour while crews transported the victim.

Benson’s funeral is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 22 at Wilsonville Baptist Church with Rev. Richard Horton and Rev. Charles Edmondson officiating. Burial will follow in Wilsonville City Cemetery. Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 21, at Bolton Funeral Home.