One Killed, One Injured When Drunk Driver Runs Off N.C. 904 And Through Backyard

One man suffered fatal personal injuries on March 6 when he was struck by a pickup truck that ran off the road on N.C. 904 while traveling at an estimated rate of speed of 90 mph, according to the North Carolina Highway Patrol.

Patrol Sgt. John Lewis said that 20-year-old Shallotte resident Miguel Toribio Ascencio was standing in the backyard of a residence when he was fatally struck by a truck driven by 31-year-old Calabash resident Thomas Kenneth Paradise.

Lewis said Paradise has been charged with second-degree murder and DWI.

According to Lewis, Paradise’s blood-alcohol content was measured at 0.23 percent after the crash, nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent.

Another man, Margarito Aguirre, was also struck by Paradise’s truck, but he was released from Columbus Regional Healthcare in Whiteville after undergoing treatment.

Lewis said that Paradise was westbound on N.C. 904 when he rounded a curve, dropped off the shoulder, overcorrected, and ran off the east side of the road. He ran through a telephone equipment box, traveled through three front years, and entered the backyard where Ascencio and Aguirre were standing.

Lewis said that there was no indication that Paradise attempted to apply the brakes until after the truck ran through the backyard of another house, jumped a ditch, and uprooted a tree.