New Hope crash claims woman, injures grandchild

By DEUCE NIVEN

    There was no time to brake before the Ford van slammed into a small Honda car, killing its driver Tuesday night, a North Carolina Highway Patrol report said.
    Cheryl Hall Hill, 54, died less than an hour after the 6:30 p.m. crash on U.S. 701 at Rough N Ready Road in the New Hope Community, Columbus County Assistant Coroner William Hannah said.
    Hill’s grandson, Zaki Butler, 23-month, was seriously hurt, flown by helicopter to UNC Children’s Hospital in Chapel Hill, Highway Patrol Sgt. David Kinlaw said Wednesday.
    A second passenger in Hill’s 1998 Honda, Keandra Godwin, 14, was treated for minor injuries at Columbus Regional Healthcare in Whiteville and released, Kinlaw said.
    Adam Shelby Norris, 37, of Peacock Road, Tabor City, was driving the 1998 Ford Van southbound when Hill’s Honda pulled out from the right, the van slamming square into the driver’s side of the car, Kinlaw said.
    There were no skid marks leading to the impact, Kinlaw said.
    Neither Norris nor his passenger, Jack King Jr., 47, of Peacock Road, Chadbourn, were injured, Kinlaw said.