‘Mama-A’ Drove the Wrong Way on I-85. She & a 20-YO Marine Both Died
Updated On: August 26, 2026
Alyshia Rushing, a TikTok creator with 540K followers, drove the wrong way on I-85 and collided head-on with Marine Landon Dunn. Both died.
Shortly after 2 AM. Saturday, on a stretch of Interstate 85 between the Taylor Road and Chantilly Parkway exits in Montgomery, Alabama, two vehicles collided head-on in what should have been the southbound lanes. One driver was going the right direction. The other wasn't. Both are now dead.
A preliminary crash report shows that Alyshia Rushing, 26, of Tuskegee, was driving her 2013 Kia Sorento northbound in the southbound lanes of I-85 when it collided head-on with a 2015 Toyota Tacoma driven by Landon Dunn, 20, of Greenville, Alabama, who was traveling in the correct direction. The report doesn't specify how fast either vehicle was traveling, but confirms the collision occurred in the center lane and describes it as a head-on impact. Both drivers were killed. Autopsy and toxicology results from the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences are still pending for both victims.
Who They Were
Rushing was a social media content creator known online as "Mama-A," with nearly 540,000 followers on TikTok. A GoFundMe has been established to support her family.
Dunn was a United States Marine, according to a GoFundMe set up by a family friend to help his family in the aftermath of his death.
What's Still Unknown
The preliminary report answers the most basic question, that this was a wrong-way, head-on collision, but leaves the more important one open: why Rushing was traveling northbound in southbound lanes in the first place. Wrong-way crashes typically stem from a small set of recurring causes: a driver entering via an exit ramp instead of an entrance ramp, disorientation from an unfamiliar highway configuration, fatigue, or impairment. At 2 AM, several of these become statistically more likely, which is precisely why toxicology results, still pending here, tend to be the evidence that determines how a case like this is ultimately understood and, where applicable, resolved.
It's worth being careful here: nothing in the preliminary report confirms impairment, fatigue, or any other specific cause. Investigators have released only the mechanical facts of the collision, not its origin.
Why Wrong-Way Crashes Are Uniquely Dangerous
Wrong-way collisions on divided highways are statistically rare compared to overall crash volume, but they carry a disproportionately high fatality rate. Unlike a rear-end or side-impact collision, a head-on crash between two vehicles both traveling at highway speed combines the full velocity of both cars into a single impact, leaving drivers and passengers with essentially no protective margin. That combined-speed dynamic is why wrong-way crashes so frequently result in death for occupants of both vehicles, even in modern vehicles equipped with extensive safety systems.
What This Means Legally
Once toxicology and autopsy results are finalized, this case will likely resolve into a clearer legal picture. If Rushing's wrong-way entry is attributed to impairment, that finding would establish clear negligence for civil purposes, giving Dunn's family a strong foundation for a wrongful death claim against her estate. Alabama law allows survivors to pursue such claims regardless of whether the at-fault driver is deceased, with any recovery generally paid through the at-fault driver's insurance policy up to its limits.
If the cause turns out to be something other than impairment, disorientation from highway signage, or a medical event, for instance, the legal analysis could shift, potentially raising questions about road design, signage adequacy, or other contributing factors. Until the toxicology results and a fuller investigation are released, the specific path forward for either family remains genuinely uncertain.
Our condolences go out to the families of Alyshia Rushing and Landon Dunn, and to everyone who followed her online and everyone who served alongside him.
If you've lost a family member in a wrong-way or head-on collision, the independent attorneys we connect you with can help you understand your legal options as the investigation and toxicology results develop.
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