Fatal Crash Claims Life Of 84-Year-Old Woman

HARNETT COUNTY, N.C. – A Tuesday afternoon crash along N.C. Highway 55 left one person dead and another hospitalized.

Emergency crews were dispatched around 1:45 p.m. to the area of Maynard Lake Road in Erwin, where two vehicles collided in the eastbound lanes.

The victim, Arletha Holiday Melvin, 84, of Erwin, died at the scene.

Preliminary findings from the North Carolina State Highway Patrol indicate Melvin had exited a nearby Dollar General and entered the highway heading toward Coats. A raised median along that stretch of road restricts left turns.

As she approached the intersection, Melvin attempted a U-turn. During that maneuver, her vehicle crossed into the path of a Ford F-350 traveling behind her.

The truck struck the driver’s side of Melvin’s Lincoln, causing fatal injuries.

A passenger in Melvin’s vehicle, identified as her husband, was taken to WakeMed in Raleigh with non-life threatening injuries.

The incident remains under investigation by the State Highway Patrol.

This report includes information from the Daily Record of Dunn.