Man charged with DUI after tragic accident in Elroy
Here’s a story that will sadden Greeneville readers: A 12-year-old girl was killed by a suspected drunk driver near Elroy, North Carolina earlier this month. Although the person who hit her made a very poor choice if he was indeed driving drunk, from what we know, the whole situation sounds like nothing but tragedy from start to finish.
According to police, around 9:30 last Thursday, the girl and her friends had been making mischief by throwing socks filled with spaghetti and eggs at cars driving on Highway 70 around where it meets Powell Road.
According to the girls’ friends, the girl ran into the middle of the road to pick up one of the socks that she had thrown and, without realizing it, dropped her phone. When she got back to safety, she realized she did not have her phone and ran back to retrieve it.
She was in the middle of the road when she was struck by a 67-year-old man from New Bern. He has now been charged with DUI.
The girl was taken to Vidant Medical Center where she was pronounced dead the next morning.
Hopefully, people in Greeneville will read this story and take it as a reminder to be very careful not to drive after they have had too much to drink. And we certainly hope that any parents in Greeneville will make a mental note to remind their children that it’s very important to be extremely cautious around roads and highways. If even one accident like this happens, it’s one accident too many.
Source: WNCT-TV, “Drunk driver kills 12-year-old girl throwing eggs at cars, troopers say,” Madeleine Wright, Aug. 17