Sisters, ages 17 and 19, die in North Carolina crash, officials say. ‘Heartbreaking’
Two sisters, ages 17 and 19, were killed in a “tragic” North Carolina crash, officials said.
State troopers said a 17-year-old was driving on a Vance County highway and crossed the center line. The car then over-corrected, running off the right side of the road and slamming into a tree, according to Sgt. S. E. Fuller with the N.C. Highway Patrol.
The driver and a 19-year-old passenger died in the Dec. 7 crash. While troopers wouldn’t share the name of the driver due to the teen’s age, the passenger was identified as Jaiah Kearney of Henderson.
Kearney was a 2021 graduate of Henderson Collegiate, according to a Facebook post from the charter school.
The school said the other person who died after the crash was Kearney’s sister, high school junior Zikera Kearney.
“We are devastated by this heartbreaking news,” the school wrote. “Our hearts and prayers are with their family, as well as with our students, families, staff, and entire community.”
Henderson Collegiate said Vance County Schools was helping with grief counseling after the sisters’ deaths.
As of Dec. 9, officials continued to investigate the single-car crash, which was reported just before midnight. It happened on U.S. Highway 158 business route in Henderson, Fuller told McClatchy News in a phone interview.
Henderson is roughly 45 miles northeast of Raleigh.
This story was originally published December 9, 2022 at 1:16 PM with the headline "Sisters, ages 17 and 19, die in North Carolina crash, officials say. ‘Heartbreaking’."
