BRUNSWICK COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) – Neighbors say something needs to be done about the road where a deadly crash happened.
A pedestrian who was killed on Mt. Misery Road in Brunswick County at around 8 p.m. on Thursday has been identified.
NCHSP identified the pedestrian as 51-year-old Regina Lorine Leonard.
Neighbors believe Leonard was walking to a nearby convenience store when she was hit. People who live in this area frequent Tommy’s Mini Mart.
They say it’s convenient, but can be dangerous walking across the street to get there. They say it’s not well lit and it needs traffic lights.
“A young woman died last Thursday, and the way she went down was devastating,” said Mary Jane Aubin.
Aubin is just one of the neighbors calling for change after Leonard was hit by several cars.
Investigators say the driver who hit Leonard first went to get help, and that’s when she was hit again by two vehicles that kept going.
According to Sergeant Gold, with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, a pickup truck hit a pedestrian in the roadway near Sunbury Street Northeast. The driver went into a convenience store nearby to get help for the pedestrian, who was then struck again by a black passenger car and a silver SUV.
Neighbors say on any given day, someone is crossing the street to get to the store.
“There’s a lot of people that live right across the street, and they’re not going to take their car to go to Tommy’s, they’re going to cross the street,” said Aubin.
Aubin says until the area is better lit and traffic lights are installed, it’s just an accident waiting to happen.
“It’s dangerous. The lines on the road, you can’t see them at night. It’s can blind you. I feel they should put maybe a fluorescent color or street lights, one or the other,” said Aubin.
The manager at Tommy’s Mini Mart says this isn’t the first person she has seen die on this road. She was there the night of the accident.
She wouldn’t go on camera but told WECT, “it was horrific, and it was tragic and it affected us in a profound way. We didn’t sleep that night. None of us did.”
the store manager said it’s still very raw for such a tight-knit community.
“She came in here all the time… We all knew her…” said the store manager.
Aubin—now asking the town of Leland to do something to make the road a safer place for people to live and work.
“I call them, and I’m still waiting on some calls back, and I’m hoping something will be done,” said Aubin. “It’s pretty sad.”
The two vehicles left the scene, and the SHP is still looking for them. They may have damage to their front bumper and undercarriage. Anyone with information about these two vehicles or their respective drivers is asked to contact NCSHP investigators at 910-395-3917.
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