Two killed in N.C. wreck grandchildren of couple in Vicksburg|[10/30/06]

Published 12:00 am Monday, October 30, 2006

Two grandchildren of a Vicksburg couple died in a three-fatality wreck on a state highway in central North Carolina on Friday.

Helen Meghan Hughes, 22, Parniece St., Summerville, N.C., and Benjamin Richard Leonard, 16, Buckhorn Road, Sanford N.C., were killed.

They were grandchildren of Newell and Althea Murphy Jr. of Vicksburg.

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Also killed was Jennifer Carter, 19, of Jacksonville, N.C., who was a passenger in the Hughes car.

The North Carolina Highway Patrol said the driver of the other vehicle involved was arrested and jailed, charged with three counts of involuntary homicide and driving under the influence of alcohol.

The wreck report said Hughes was driving a 1990 Toyota eastbound on NC 42 about 5 miles from Sanford. A 1999 Dodge driven by Pastor Rios Sanchez, 55, of Cooper Store Road, Sanford, crossed the centerline and collided head on with her car at 5:07 p.m., the report said.

The highway patrol spokesman said Sanchez was taken to Central Carolina Hospital in Sanford for treatment of a broken arm, then jailed in Lee County, N.C., in lieu of $75,000 bond. He was to have made an initial appearance in court this morning.

Phill Richmond, the executive director of Oak Ranch school where Leonard was enrolled, told The Sanford Herald newspaper that Leonard had just been picked up by Meghan and her friend Jennifer and was to spend the weekend with his sister, Andrea Hughes of Raleigh, who also was his legal guardian.

State Trooper K.T. Hill said the two women both died at the scene. Leonard was taken to the hospital, where despite being resuscitated and having emergency surgery, he was pronounced dead at 10:16 p.m.

A memorial service for Leonard and Hughes will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Hayes Barton United Methodist Church in Raleigh, the Sanford newspaper reported.

A memorial service for Hughes and Leonard will be Tuesday in Raleigh.

Richmond said Leonard will be cremated and that his ashes will be spread on the bank of the Cape Fear River where it borders Oak Ranch property.