Aulander woman killed; roommate arrested
Published 8:54 am Thursday, December 30, 2010
LEWISTON – An Aulander woman stands charged after her roommate died in a motor vehicle accident near here.
Judy Delores Wheeler, 56, of 124 Arthur Maggett Road, Aulander, died Dec. 17 at the scene of a single vehicle crash on Indian Woods Road (RP 1108), according to a report filed by North Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper Chris Copeland.
Wheeler was a front seat passenger in a 2002 Ford Windstar van owned and driven by Helen Grant Spivey, 42, of the same address. Trooper Copeland said that Wheeler rented a room in Spivey’s home.
Copeland arrested Spivey at the scene, charging her with felony death by motor vehicle and DWI.
Spivey was placed under a $25,000 secured bond and has since made her first appearance in Bertie County District Court.
In his investigation of the accident scene, Copeland said the van was traveling south at around 10 p.m. and ran off the right side of the road where it collided with three trees and came to rest in a wooded area. Wheeler was ejected from the vehicle.
“The victim was not immediately identified and the driver was unable to provide any information,” Copeland said, adding there was no form of identification found on Wheeler or inside the van.
Spivey was not injured.
The death was the 13th of the year on roads within the NCHP’s Troop A, District II area (Bertie, Gates and Hertford counties). Six of those fatalities have occurred in Bertie County.