An 11-year-old boy died and three other people were hurt early Saturday morning when a vehicle carrying five people ran off Doyle Road near Zebulon and struck a tree. The driver, 40-year-old Raleigh resident Correll Deans, is now held at the Wake County jail without bond, facing 14 charges including three felony counts of hit-and-run causing serious injury or death.
According to WRAL, the crash happened on Doyle Road near Zebulon, and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol says one person died at the scene. A 7-year-old boy, a 4-year-old boy, and an adult woman were all taken to the hospital with serious injuries, while three people total were hospitalized with serious injuries, per the Highway Patrol. Deans is charged with the child’s death under a count of misdemeanor death by vehicle.
Emergency dispatch logs reviewed by the Legeros Fire Line indicate the crash triggered a major multi-agency rescue response, with units from Hopkins Fire, Zebulon Fire, Wake County EMS, and Franklin County EMS arriving around 1:12 a.m. Doyle Road sits near the eastern edge of Wake County, close to the Franklin County line, which required the cross-jurisdictional response.
Driver Was Absent When Crews Arrived
The Highway Patrol says the driver was not present when first responders reached the scene, though the report notes it is unclear why. Arrest warrants state that driving left of center is believed to have contributed to the crash, and Deans faces a driving infraction for that violation on the single-lane road, the station’s report notes…