A woman accused of being impaired more than twice the legal limit was involved in a wreck that killed a 20-year-old man. Troopers say she “appeared lost” afterward and may have also been under the influence of marijuana and texting at the time of the deadly crash.
The wreck on U.S. 321 North, about a half-mile north of the Gaston and Lincoln County line, occurred after 11 p.m. Saturday.
Kelly Massey, 36, of Gaston Hillside Road, Lincolnton, registered a 0.21 on an Intoxilyzer test that determines blood-alcohol ratio. North Carolina law considers a driver impaired with a ratio of 0.08 or above.
Massey also told troopers that she had been smoking marijuana a short time before the crash and had been distracted because she was texting her child’s father at the time of the wreck, said Trooper B.M. Black.
Massey was driving a 2007 Mazda sport utility vehicle at least 80 mph on U.S. 321 North when she struck a Chevrolet Astro van from behind being driven by Janette Osequera, 36, of Taylorsville.
In the backseat was her son, Anthony Osequera, and the mom said he was asleep at the time of the wreck, Black said.
He was thrown from the car as it rolled several times and died at the scene. His mother was airlifted in stable condition to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, Black said.
Massey was not injured, but Black reported he could smell alcohol on her breath, that she was staggering and had bloodshot eyes as she stood next the wreck scene.
Black said it appeared she did not know she had been in a wreck.
“She appeared lost,” Black said. “We stood next to the rolled over vehicle for two hours and she never did look over at the vehicle and she never did once ask if she had been in a wreck or if anyone was hurt.”
The deceased man’s mother was pinned in the vehicle part of that time and emergency workers were working to free her.
Massey broke down and started crying after troopers told her she’d been in a wreck where a man had died, Black said.
The Osequeras were returning home after visiting one of her friends in Gaffney, S.C., Black said.
Osequera told troopers she could see Massey’s vehicle approaching from behind at a high rate of speed, but kept thinking she would merge left from the right hand lane.
Massey told troopers she had been at her mother’s house in South Carolina. She told troopers she was going to pick up her child, but Black said Massey had already passed the exit where she would have gotten off U.S. 321 to pick up her.
Massey told troopers she deleted her texting history, but Black said investigators seized her cellphone and will determine if she was also texting at the time of the wreck.
“It’s just a tragedy,” Black said. “You have a 20-year-old boy just trying to get home and he gets killed in a wreck.”
There were no skid marks before impact. The stretch of highway has a posted speed limit of 65 mph. A wreck reconstruction team will have to determine how fast Massey was driving at the time of impact, Black said.
Massey also has a pending driving while impaired charge against her from earlier this year, according to court records.
Troopers charged her with driving while impaired and careless and reckless driving in Saturday’s wreck, but planned to seek a second-degree murder charge against her either Sunday or Monday, Black said.
She was booked into the Lincoln County Jail under a $20,000 bond.
You can reach Kevin Ellis at 704-869-1823 or twitter.com/TheGazetteKevin.