Greenville teen killed in wreck buried Friday

By Kevin Pearcey (Contact) | Greenville Advocate

Published Friday, April 17, 2009

A Greenville High School student was killed in a one-car accident on Tuesday night, according to Alabama State Troopers.

Troopers said Brittany Danielle McCormick, 16, died in an accident that occurred approximately 10 miles east of Greenville on County Road 50 in Crenshaw County. Troopers said the accident occurred at 9:30 p.m. when McCormick's car left the road, striking a tree head-on.

She was pronounced dead on the scene.

Brittany Danielle McCormick

McCormick was buried on Friday afternoon at Liberty Methodist Church. Immediate survivors include her parents, Becky and Arthur Miller, and sister, Cortney McCormick.

McCormick's English teacher, Wendy Smith, remembered the tenth grader as a quiet, respectful student who never caused problems in the classroom.

"She was always respectful, always got along well with her fellow students," said Smith. "She was just one of those good kids. She always did her work."

Smith said she taught McCormick in second period.

"We only get 50 minutes a day with the students in these classes, so I really never got to know her as a person," she said. "Of course, now, I wish I had."

Notified of the wreck on Wednesday morning, GHS Principal Dr. Charles Farmer said McCormick's death was heartbreaking.

"It's sad and unfortunate when anyone dies at a young age, especially for the ones she leaves behind," said Farmer. "When we come back to school on Monday there is going to be a healing process we're going to have to go through as a school. This grounds you and brings you back to reality."

GHS has been on Spring Break this week.

Smith said both teachers and students could hardly wait for Spring Break this year, but now the school system's traditional weekly vacation doesn't seem that important.

"We were counting down the days," said Smith. "This (McCormick's death) is something you really don't want to hear of at anytime."

Smith has experienced loss such as McCormick's death before. One of her best friends died in a car accident when she was a student at Straughn High School. She was also teaching at Greenville High School when tenth grader Danny Spann lost his life in a car accident in 2006.

"It's devastating," said Smith. "You always ask 'why?'"

GHS counselor Todd Henderson said McCormick was a good student and pleasant to be around.

"She was a sweet child and very polite," said Henderson. "She seemed to have a lot of friends."

Henderson said additional counselors would be made available at GHS for students when school re-opens on Monday.

---

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE THIS STORY?

---