The Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A woman and a 5-year-old child were killed in a wreck that occurred after a speeder taunted a state trooper who had stopped the car.
They were two of five people killed on roadways in and around Raleigh during the weekend.
As State Trooper Brian Jones approached a vehicle he stopped in northwest Raleigh for speeding, the driver leaned out his window and yelled, “Hey, you are going to have to catch me,” then sped away, said Highway Patrol Sgt. Barry Hower.
The driver eluded the trooper and a Raleigh police officer who later joined the chase for about a mile before the driver lost control at a curve one block north of the intersection of O’Neal Road with Leesville Road.
The car ran off the road, crashed into a stand of trees and killed Shavonda Renee Commissiong, 26, and Jalien Commissiong, 5, the state Highway Patrol said Monday.
Troopers identified the driver as Anderson Sheldon Hazelwood, 31, of Durham, who was in stable condition at WakeMed.
He faces two manslaughter charges as well as charges for misdemeanor marijuana possession, driving with revoked driver’s license, speeding to elude a police officer, speeding 100 mph in a 45 mph zone, and careless and reckless driving.
Hower said he the chase was warranted, but the trooper didn’t see the child in the car when he started the pursuit.
“His attention was focused on the driver,” Hower said, but knowing there was a child in the car “would have made a difference.”