Durham Man Dies Of Injuries Sustained In I-85 Crash

Durham police say that a man who suffered critical personal injuries in a May 3 crash on Interstate 85 North died of those injuries on May 8.

Police say that 60-year-old Durham resident William Allen Merritt was pronounced dead at Duke University Hospital on May 8.

Shortly before 8 a.m. on May 3, a northbound Chevrolet Aveo Merritt was driving clipped the rear of a northbound Nissan Maxima driven by 54-year-old Mebane resident Kathryn Willis. Investigators say that Willis was slowing down due to traffic and both vehicles were traveling in the leftmost lane.

The Aveo the skidded into the rear of a North Carolina Department of Transportation dump truck that had been parked on the left shoulder of the highway in order for DOT employees to remove an animal carcass on the road.

Merritt became trapped inside his vehicle and had to be extracted by Durham firefighters.