Va. wreck kills Conway woman
Published 12:00 am Monday, August 27, 2007
FRANKLIN, Va. – A Conway woman died Monday as the result of an early Sunday morning accident near here that also claimed one other life.
Jessica Pope, 23, died in a regional hospital after initially surviving the one-vehicle accident that occurred on US 258 in Southampton County, Va.
The 3:10 a.m. accident also claimed the life of 19-year-old Tabitha Carpenter of Raleigh.
Pope and Carpenter were riding in the bed of a pick-up truck operated by 18-year-old Karl Vernon Wiltsie III of Weldon. Carpenter was killed at the scene.
According to a report filed by Virginia State Police Trooper H. B. Johnson, Wiltsie’s vehicle ran off the right side of the road and then struck a ditch, utility pole and a fence. The accident occurred near Va. Route 688, just north of Va. Route 189.
A third passenger riding in the bed, 23-year-old Abigail Deloatch, was not seriously injured.
The medical condition of Wiltsie or two other passengers in the cab n 21-year-old Danielle Davis and 43-year-old Paula Lassiter n is not known.
One unconfirmed source said Deloatch and Davis both live in Northampton County.
Trooper Johnson charged Wiltsie with reckless driving.