COLUMBUS COUNTY, NC (WWAY) -- According to highway patrol, two children and an elderly man were killed in a three car accident near Whiteville around 10:00PM Friday.
Highway Patrol says, Jaquan Wandaris King, 17, was charged with three counts of misdemeanor death by motor vehicle, driving left of center, and driving without a license.
King was travelling north on U.S. 701, and attempted to illegally pass a vehicle near the intersection of Gaston Sellers Rd. and U.S. 701. Oncoming traffic forced him back into his lane causing him to hit the car in front of him, a 2000 Saab, according to trooper Kent Ivey. Driving the Saab, 78 year-old James Brown.
The collision made Brown lose control of his vehicle spinning him across the center line, forcing a head on crash into a 2004 Kia Spectrum driven by Savanah Robledo, 25. Passengers in the Kia were Robledo's daughter, 8 year-old Brittany Long and Robledo's two sisters Brenda Acosta, 13 and Anna Acosta, 16. Brittany Long and Brenda Acosta were both killed in the collision.
According to Highway Patrol, Brown, not wearing a seat belt, was thrown from the Saab. All four passengers in the Kia were belted.
Ivey said, the impact flipped the Kia causing it to land upside-down on top of the Saab.
"It was almost like one car was sticking straight up in the air," Ivey said. "That's not something you like to see."
Highway Patrol said, after King started the chain reaction, his 1997 Ford skidded to a stop on the side of the road. Highway Patrol said two of the three passengers in King's car were taken to the hospital and later released. None of them suffered severe injury.
