Single-vehicle accident claims life
Published 8:25 pm Monday, May 5, 2014
WINDSOR – A Williamston man was fatally injured in a single-vehicle accident near here Saturday.
According to Sgt. W. A. Joyner of the NC Highway Patrol, part of the team that investigated the accident, a 2014 Chevy Tahoe driven by Tremayne Alvin Smallwood, 24, of Windsor, was traveling south on NC 308, approximately 3.7 miles south of Lewiston at 4:40 p.m. Saturday.
After leaving the highway, the vehicle involved in a Saturday afternoon wreck along NC 308 crashed into the steps at Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church. Staff Photo by Brittany Powell
At the intersection of Highway 308 and SR 1247 (Mt. Olive Church Rd.) the vehicle veered across the center line and ran off the road to the left, crashing into the front steps of Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church. The vehicle then struck an unoccupied church van parked in the church parking lot before coming to rest on its roof.
The Highway Patrol said speed was a factor in the accident but alcohol was not involved.
Two passengers in the vehicle: 28-year-old Ronald Earl Everett of Williamston, who was riding in the front seat; and 23-year-old back-seat passenger Benaiah Joel Urquhart of Ahoskie, were attended to at the scene by Bertie County Emergency Services.
Everett and Smallwood were later transported by EastCare helicopter to Vidant Medical Center in Greenville where Everett later died of his injuries at 9:04 p.m. Saturday.
The Highway Patrol said the accident is still under investigation and any charges are pending.
The accident marks the sixth fatality in Bertie County for the year 2014 and the ninth this year in NCHP’s District A-2 comprised of Bertie, Hertford, and Gates counties.
(Editor’s note: The original story posted regarding this tragic accident listed the driver of the vehicle, Tremayne Alvin Smallwood, as the deceased. That information is incorrect. Ronald Earl Everett was the individual that lost his life due to injuries sustained in the accident. The Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald apologizes for this mistake and the story has been updated to contain the correct identification of the deceased.)