A single vehicle accident on Reedsford Road late Sunday night claimed the lives of two Sampson residents, the first traffic fatality in the new year. Speed and reckless driving were reported as contributing factors.
According to N.C. Highway Patrol reports, Angel Moises Bonilla Garcia, 22, of 90 Jean Lane Clinton and Daniel Vasquez Gonzales, 17, of 782 McLamb Road, Dunn were killed when the vehicle they were in ran off the roadway onto the right shoulder, striking a mailbox and then hitting two trees.
The driver was identified as Garcia, 22. Reports show he was not wearing a seatbelt.
The front passenger, Gonzales, 17, was wearing a seatbelt and, reports show, he died on impact.
The accident happened at 10:02 p.m. on Reedsford Road, near Byrd-Yancey-Bass Road, when the 2013 Hyundai car, traveling west at a high rate of speed, went off the roadway, according to First Sgt. Kevin Pearson with the N.C. Highway Patrol.
The one-vehicle accident becomes the first and second traffic fatalities on Sampson roadways in 2025, five days into the new year.
The county ended 2024 with a total of 21 vehicle deaths.