Four Traffic Fatalities Within Four Days In Columbus County

A single-vehicle crash on the morning of April 5 in which a Bolton woman suffered fatal personal injuries was the fourth fatality caused by an automobile accident in Columbus County in a four-day span.

According to Assistant Columbus County Coroner William Hannah, 40-year-old Rose Marie Miller was killed in a crash on Old Lake Road in the Buckhead Community at around 8:30 a.m. The Volkswagen she was driving ran off the road and landed nose-down in a ditch.

In a crash that occurred on N.C. 242, south of U.S. 74, at around 11:30 a.m. on April 4, 48-year-old Chadbourn resident Michael Ray Butler was killed in a crash, according to Trooper Ronald Hester of the North Carolina Highway Patrol. He was traveling at a rate of more than 65 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone when his car ran off the roadway and overturned, causing him to be ejected from the vehicle. He died in transit to the hospital.

In a crash that took place at around 11 a.m. on April 3 on U.S. 701, north of Tabor City, 67-year-old Whiteville resident Betty Hursey Adams was killed in a crash, Hannah said. She was the lone passenger in a 1998 Chevrolet her husband, 62-year-old Alton Earl Adams, was driving, according to Trooper Charles Ransom. The vehicle was southbound when it collided with a 2001 Lexus driven by 17-year-old Dublin, Ohio resident Carolyn Elizabeth Simmons, who turned in front of the Chevrolet. Betty Adams was not wearing her seat belt and passenger side suffered the most damage. She was pronounced dead at the scene. According to Sgt. John Lewis, Simmons was charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle.

In a crash at around 5:30 p.m. on April 3, 72-year-old Nakina resident Johnny McCrae Smith was killed when he stepped in front of a 2000 Pontiac driven by 45-year-old Whiteville resident Barbara Walker Long on N.C. 130, according to Trooper Bret Baxley.