Tow truck driver killed in accident remembered as wonderful son, someone who would help anybody

Macy Lee Alvey III was a New Orleans tow truck driver whose mother described him as a wonderful son.

“He would give you the shirt off his back if he could. He would go out of his way for whatever he needed to do for you no matter if he had to go without. He would help anybody” said Maria Alvey.

Investigators say Alvey was helping a disabled truck on I-55 north near mile marker 11.8 Thursday morning. He was standing on the driver side when a 2012 Nissan Rogue, driven by 48-year-old Mikela Hall, sideswiped the Chevy, tow truck, and Alvey before hitting the guard rail, flipping over and being hit by a 2008 Pontiac Grand Am.

MORE | State Police: Impaired driver fails to “move over,” kills tow truck driver

The driver of the Pontiac was taken to North Oaks Hospital with critical injuries. Hall suffered moderate injuries, while Alvey was pronounced dead on the scene. The driver of the Nissan Rogue, Mikela Hall, has been arrested for vehicular homicide, first-degree vehicular negligent injuring, failure to move over for an emergency vehicle, careless operation and suspended driver's license.

“We text every morning, 'Good morning, what’s going on?' We send out prayers to each other,” explained Michael Charles who was friends with 34-year-old Macy Lee Alvey II.

“The problem that we have here is that there are laws out in place of move over. No one pays attention to that. Sometimes, I think they get drawn to the light,” Charles said.

And Charles knows the dangers that his friends faced while out of the side of that road helping that driver. In his tow yard the cab of a wrecked truck from when he himself was hit by a driver who didn’t move over.

Louisiana State patrol spokesperson Dustin Dwight said, “The law is very clear when it comes to this. You need to slow down or move into the other lane, it’s that simple.”

Louisiana State Troopers also suspect that Mikela Hall was driving impaired and said a blood sample has been taken for a toxicology test.

“It’s frustrating because these people are just doing their job. They’re just doing their job on the shoulder of the road and for somebody to just not care enough to move over, or pay attention, or impaired,” said Dustin Dwight.

Now Alvey’s friends and family a coping with the fact that he’s gone.

“That was a reality check,. 'Wait a minute, man he’s never going to come. He’s dead,'” said Charles.