A Mountain Brook man charged in the DUI traffic crash that killed one of his passengers on U.S. 280 has been denied youthful offender status.

Gabriel Alexander “Gabe” Uncapher, 21, is charged with manslaughter in the death of 19-year-old Virginia Elizabeth “Cricket” Davis.

The crash happened at 2:20 a.m. Sunday, June 18, 2023, on U.S. 280 at Hollywood Boulevard.

His attorneys, Tommy Spina and Ben Preston, asked that he be tried as a youthful offender.

According to the Alabama’s Youthful Offender statute, if a person charged with a crime in an adult court in Alabama is under the age of 21 at the time of the alleged offense, that person has the right to make an application with the court requesting Youthful Offender status be granted.

Under the statute, a person deemed a youthful offender is tried before a judge and not jury and serves no more than three years if convicted of a felony, among other benefits. In misdemeanor cases, the maximum sentence is one year.

A youthful offender hearing was held Tuesday. Jefferson County Circuit Judge Shanta Craig Owens on Wednesday issued an order denying Uncapher’s request.

“I am in the process of beginning to resolve this case without trial,’ his attorney, Tommy Spina said.

“By law, the youthful offender status procedure is required to be explored by an individual and their lawyer who has been accused of committing an offense before their 21st birthday,’’ Spina said.

“Now that the application for Youthful Offender has been denied, this case will move forward just as any other case in our criminal justice system,’’ Spina said.

According to a civil suit filed against Uncapher, his father Dr. William Uncapher and Zydeco bar on Birmingham’s Southside, Uncapher and Davis attended a concert together at Zydeco on Saturday, June 17. They left the bar in Sunday’s early morning hours.

With Uncapher behind the wheel of his 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee, they crashed.

According to the civil suit, Uncapher lost control “due to his intoxicated condition and while operating a vehicle at an extremely high rate of speed, causing it to leave the roadway, strike a guardrail and violent roll over into some large trees.”

Davis, who was in the back seat, sustained blunt force injuries. She was pronounced dead on the scene at 2:23 a.m.

The deadly crash was investigated by Birmingham police.

Efforts to reach Zydeco for comment have been unsuccessful. The civil lawsuit, in part, says the bar was negligent in serving alcohol to minors.

Davis was a graduate of The Altamont School, where she was co-captain of the tennis team. According to her obituary, she received many awards in voice and acting, and sang a solo at graduation.

At the time of her death, she had just finished her freshman year at the University of Alabama where she was a member of Delta Zeta sorority.

Her mother, Lea Bone previously told AL.com she was disappointed that the charge was not murder.