Hazel Dill didn’t expect to spend her Monday morning making funeral arrangements. Her grandson, Matthew Wayne Dill, died in a single-car crash Saturday night in Lincoln County He was 24. Hazel Dill said she’s distraught about losing her grandson who she’s raised since he was 3.
Because she’s rattled, Dill said she wasn’t too clear on the details of her grandson’s death. But she heard the crash. “I live on the Coopertown Road and I heard the boom. I thought it was a gunshot,” she said. About 10 minutes later, Dill said she received a phone call about the crash. She drove to Gates Road, but officers wouldn’t let her go down to the scene.
Fatal combination: Matthew Dill combined drugs, alcohol and speed the night he crashed, according to Highway Patrol Trooper J.M. Futrell, who investigated the wreck. Dill was driving a 2005 Dodge Neon west on Gates Road about 9:40 p.m. He was alone in the car and not wearing a seat belt, Futrell said.
Dill drove off the right side of the road and struck a culvert, followed by a utility box, a fence and a utility pole. The car’s impact with the pole on the driver’s said proved fatal, Futrell said. The trooper said he smelled alcohol on Dill and found Xanax pills on the man. A toxicology report will determine what was in Dill’s system, said Futrell.
A man sitting on his porch called 911 when he heard the crash. Dill was dead before help arrived, Futrell said. No one else was hurt in the wreck. Dill had DWI and reckless driving charges pending in Gaston County.
Saying goodbye: According to Hazel Dill, her grandson went to visit a friend that night. He drove his car, which he’d gotten just two months before. She said she heard that he drank a Four Loko beer the night he crashed. Four Loko has been the subject of controversy in the past because it previously contained caffeine and was marketed as an energy drink. Four Loko has an alcohol content ranging from six to 12 percent.
Dill graduated from West Lincoln High School and worked at a grocery store. He enjoyed playing video games. His parents died about a decade ago, Dill said. The two have supported each other through the loss of many loved ones, she said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do without him,” she said. “He was a sweet person. He was a good person.” The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Warlick Funeral Home.
A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday Pisgah United Methodist Church Cemetery.
You can reach Diane Turbyfill at 704-869-1817 and twitter.com/GazetteDiane.