A Clinton woman has died from injuries sustained in a fatal accident that occurred just outside Clinton over the weekend.

Emergency crews responded to a call of a one-vehicle accident Saturday evening at 7:24 p.m. at the intersection of Bonnetsville Road and Old NC 24 Highway.

According to N.C. Highway Patrol reports from Trooper D. E. Tew, a 2012 Nissan Juke, driven by Patricia Gail Rich, 70, of 409 Sampson St., Clinton, was traveling south on Bonnetsville Road and failed to stop for a stop sign at the intersection with Old NC 24 Highway.

“She went straight ahead and struck a ditch,” said State Highway Patrol Sgt. J.D. Duff.

Rich was transported to Sampson Regional Medical Center where Duke Life Flight was waiting, but she was pronounced dead upon arrival at the local hospital, reports show.

Rich was restrained at the time of the accident, and reports show impairment was not believed to be a facotr in the wreck.

Saturday night’s accident adds to what has already been a dangerous and deadly year for Sampson County. Four people died in accidents within the first eight days of 2025.

On Jan. 5, two men were killed in a single-vehicle accident on Reedsford Road, just outside of Clinton. According to the Highway Patrol, speed and reckless driving were noted as contributing factors in the accident. Two days later, a head on collision on N.C. 55 near Oak Grove Church Road, 2.7 miles west of Newton Grove left two people dead when a 2017 Honda Accord was traveling east crossed the centerline and hit a 2013 Kia Sorento traveling west.

A single vehicle crash on Highway 24, near Hayne Stretch Road on Jan. 14, led to several charges for a Stedman man who was traveling west on NC 24 in a Lincoln truck when he over-corrected, ran off the left side into the grass median, before moving into the eastbound lanes. The vehicle came to a rest on its top on the eastbound lane. The driver survived, but what charged with DWI.

According to sheriff’s reports, on Feb. 13, deputies responded to a single motor vehicle accident involving a tractor-trailer at the U.S. Hwy. 701 on-ramp for I-40 East, near Newton Grove. No injuries were reported. but the driver of the truck was arrested for possession of a firearm, driving while impaired and reckless driving.

On Feb. 18, an overturned 18-wheeler, which erupted into flames after it reportedly struck a bridge embankment and overturned, leaking fuel on the roadway took hours to get under control and clean the roadway before traffic could be reopened in the westbound lane, just a mile from Coharie Country Club. The driver was said to have needed medical attention, but was walking around the scene.

In 2024, Sampson County had 21 vehicle deaths on county roadways.