BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA — An Alabama jury convicted a Birmingham man on March 18, 2026, of manslaughter — not murder — in the brutal beating death of a veteran female truck driver on Interstate 59/20 in 2020. The jury found him guilty of the lesser charge after determining he was under the influence of drugs at the time of the killing.
Charles Levester Gipson, 44, had faced a murder charge in the death of Christine Summers, 53, a 30-year truck driving veteran from Tennessee. He pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. The jury also convicted him of assaulting two police officers while in jail. Sentencing is scheduled for July 27, 2026.
What Happened That Morning
In the early hours of August 19, 2020, Summers was hauling freight for RTR Transportation on I-59/20 near mile marker 118 in the Birmingham area. She pulled off the interstate because she thought she might have hit a man in the roadway. She called her husband first, then hung up and dialed 911. Still on the phone with a dispatcher, she climbed out of her truck to investigate.
That’s when Gipson attacked the female truck driver. The 911 dispatcher heard Summers scream “get away from me!” before she suffered a fatal head injury. A fellow truck driver found her body around 3:20 a.m. About an hour later, Hueytown Police arrested Gipson after callers reported a nude man on the roadway. He told officers he had “killed a white lady” and claimed President Donald Trump made him do it.
Christine Summers
Who Was Christine Summers?
Summers was more than a truck driver. She was a wife, mother, and grandmother who had spent 30 years behind the wheel. Her killing shocked the trucking community and those who knew her. She had been on the phone with her husband just moments before the attack.
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