A 24-year-old Clinton woman was killed in a head-on collision on N.C. 24 east of Clinton Tuesday afternoon that resulted in four wrecked cars, multiple injuries and charges pending against another motorist.
According to reports from the N.C. Highway Patrol in Sampson, the fatal collision occurred at 2:40 p.m. Tuesday, about 2.2 miles east of Clinton, roughly half a mile west of Moltonville Road.
Reports state that a 2006 Hyundai being driven east on N.C. 24 by Tierra Ynette Jacobs, 24, of South Clinton Drive, Clinton, was struck when a 2015 Toyota SUV being driven the opposite direction by Barbara Raynor Shook, 64, of Five Bridge Road, Clinton, reportedly crossed the center line. Jacobs’ vehicle was then struck a second time by a vehicle trailing Shook’s that attempted to run off the road to avoid the collision.
Charges are pending in the wreck, which is being investigated by Trooper C.C. Hall.
Reports show that Shook’s SUV was being followed by two other vehicles, a 2014 Chevy pickup occupied by driver William Edward Livingston, 74, of Fayetteville and two passengers, Odessa Livingston, 76, also of Fayetteville, and Jane Saxton, 71, of Maryland; and a 2013 Audi being driven by Gregory Paul Schmidt, 58, of Wallace, whose passenger was Lisa Cavenaugh Chambers, 57, of Rose Hill.
A preliminary Highway Patrol investigation revealed that the vehicles being driven by Shook, Livingston and Schmidt were traveling west on N.C. 24 when Shook’s SUV crossed the center line and struck Jacobs’ car, causing the Hyundai to cross the center line as a result and strike Livingston’s vehicle, according to reports relayed by Highway Patrol spokeswoman Tina Byrd.
The car then slid off the left side of the road, on the opposite shoulder. Reports state that Schmidt ran off the right side of the road in an attempt to avoid the collision and Jacobs’ vehicle, at which point the two collided. Jacobs’ vehicle flipped on its side and came to rest in a tree line. Shook’s vehicle ran off the left side of the road and struck a ditch, reports state.
Schmidt and Chambers were transported to Duplin General Hospital in Kenansville for their injuries, which were non-life-threatening. Shook sustained minor injuries and was taken to Sampson Regional Medical Center, where she was treated and released. There were reportedly no injuries sustained by those in the Livingston vehicle.
Byrd said charges are pending. There were no contributing factors listed in the wreck, which is still under investigation. All motorists involved were wearing their seat belts.
Tuesday’s fatal collision adds to a staggering death total on Sampson County’s roadways in 2015. Highway Patrol troopers in Sampson have investigated 24 deaths on local roads this year, far exceeding the nine fatalities investigated all of last year. Tuesday’s pile-up was the second fatal collision in as many days in the county, and the third this month.
On Nov. 3, Christopher Neal, 37, was killed in a single-vehicle accident when his vehicle struck a guardrail on Waycross Road in southeast Sampson. And on Monday, at 4:34 a.m., a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle on Green Path Road when strange circumstances developed near the intersection of Green Path Road and Spring Branch Road in northern Sampson.
According to reports, Samilien Savoir, 43, of Florida, was one of several passengers in a vehicle that was stopped at the intersection. When the vehicle started to pull from Green Path to Spring Branch, one of the tires fell off, rendering the vehicle immobile. As Savoir and others attempted to get the vehicle operable again and out of the roadway, a car was bearing down on Green Path Road, not seeing the vehicle stopped in the roadway.
Savoir attempted to run from the vehicle, but when the car swerved to miss the immobile vehicle at the last minute, it clipped the stopped vehicle and struck and killed Savoir, according to Highway Patrol reports.