Tragic story! I heard about it today when I got to work this morning! This is very sad news and I can't imagine what the family is going though. Also, I couldn't imagine what the bride-to-be has to be going though. We put so much effort into a wedding then to (rightfully so) cancel it the few hour(s) before must have been the 2nd hardest thing she did that day.
www.witn.com/home/headlines/NEW_INFO_Flower_Girl_Killed_Two_Bridesmaids_Injured_On_The_Way_To_Wedding.html"
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Updated: 8:16 PM Apr 11, 2011
PATROL: Charges Coming In Crash That Killed Flower Girl | |
The Highway Patrol confirms that the driver in a wreck that killed a six year old girl on her way to a wedding will face charges.
Troopers say Mupin Cummings of Pinetops will face the charge of misdemeanor death by motor vehicle for the death of Ava Kendall. The six year old was on her way to be a flower girl in a wedding Saturday when the accident happened on Highway 43 outside of Greenville. Trooper David Swanson said Cummings' Jeep Cherokee crossed the center line and collided with a Honda Accord. Swanson says a witness traveling behind Cummings says it appeared the woman dropped something and tried to retrieve it when she swerved in on-coming traffic. The woman is still hospitalized and has not yet been served with those charges. Two bridesmaids in the car were also injured and hospitalized. 22-year-old Michele Garland 13-year-old Lindsey Whitehurst are from Greenville, as was Ava. Bride-to-be Rachel Jones cancelled the wedding following the fatal wreck.
Previous story: Family members tell WITN a flower girl was killed and two bridesmaids injured in a crash on their way to a wedding Saturday. According to Trooper Swanson the accident happened around 4:50 p.m. on Highway 43 between Greenville and Falkland, just north of Rock Springs. He says a Jeep Cherokee was heading North on Highway 43 when the vehicle crossed the center line and hit a Honda Accord going south. Inside the Honda were 22-year-old Michele Garland, 13-year-old Lindsey Whitehurst, and 6-year-old Ava Kendall. They are all from Greenville. Family members tell WITN all three were on their way to a wedding when the crash occurred. Bride-to-be Rachel Jones says Kendall was the flower girl, and the other two women bridesmaids. Trooper Swanson says Kendall was killed in the crash. Whitehurst and Garland were seriously injured and taken to Pitt County Memorial hospital where they were listed in fair condition as of Sunday morning. The driver of the Jeep, 39-year-old Mupin Wu Cummings of Pinetops, was also injured and taken to the hospital. According to troopers a witness says Cummings was looking down at the time of the crash. Swanson says he is still investigating the accident and charges are pending. The wedding was canceled because of the tragedy. Bride-to-be Rachel Jones told WITN, "It was the worst moment of my entire life." She said Kendall was the daughter of a family friend and that "anywhere we went people would stop to talk to her because she was explosive with personality and she was beautiful." Kendall's father also spoke to WITN. He said, "Every time I turn around the house I see her. I see pictures. I see her artwork. I see her clothes and she is with me."