Four South Johnston Students Involved In Accident One Day After Fellow Student's Fatal Wreck

Four students whose vehicles were lined up to turn in to the parking lot at South Johnston High School on the morning of April 29 were involved in a chain reaction crash that apparently was caused by one of the drivers becoming distracted by television crews at the school.

The TV crews were at the school to cover a memorial service being conducted for a student killed in an accident the day before.

The accident took place shortly before 7:30 a.m. on Hannah Creek Road, the same road where the previous day's fatal crash occurred.

In the April 28 crash, Jesse Ferrell, a member of the junior varsity football team and Future Farmers of America, who was described as a popular student, was ejected from his Chevrolet pickup truck around 7:30 a.m. He was transported to WakeMed in Raleigh where he was later pronounced dead.

According to Johnston County schools spokeswoman Terri Sessoms, the second accident took place just outside the school entrance.

Sessoms said that one of the drivers was distracted by TV crews at the school to cover Ferrell's memorial service at the site of his parking spot. Two other vehicles were subsequently rear-ended.

Two female students received transport to Johnston Memorial hospital with injuries not considered to be serious, according to Sessoms.