Search fatalities

Jordan Nicole Southers

Age : 20

Gender : Female

Race : White

Date : 02/01/2021

Location : NC Highway 11 at NC Highway 903

City : Kenansville

County : Duplin

State : North Carolina

Agency : North Carolina State Highway Patrol

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Driver killed in police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

NARRATIVE:
On 02/01/2021, 20-year-old Jordan Southers of Angier was killed with three passengers when the car she was driving crashed into a pond during a North Carolina State Highway Patrol pursuit in Duplin County.

At approximately 10:13 p.m., a state trooper attempted to stop the Ford passenger car for speeding on NC Highway 24. Southers continued away from the trooper and a pursuit followed through Kenansville on Highway 24 before turning north onto NC Highway 11.

The subsequent Highway Patrol crash investigation determined that Southers drove at speeds reaching approximately 110 mph during the pursuit and at times drove with the vehicle's headlights turned off.

At the intersection of NC Highway 11 and NC Highway 903, Southers continued through a stop sign, crossed Highway 903 and left the roadway. The Ford struck a fence post and became airborne before landing upside down in a pond containing approximately 15 feet of water.

Investigators estimated that the Ford was traveling approximately 70 mph when it struck the fence and traveled approximately 132 feet through the air before entering the pond.

Five people were inside the Ford. Darien Wellington Gayle, 20, of Dunn, escaped from the vehicle before it submerged. The pursuing trooper threw a rescue rope into the pond and helped Gayle reach safety. Gayle was transported to Vidant Duplin Hospital with minor injuries and released.

Southers and passengers Geavon Myles, 17, of Magnolia; Tavius Carroll, 21, of Dunn; and Amanda Serrano-Garcia of Lillington remained trapped inside the submerged vehicle. Search-and-rescue divers responded, and the Ford was subsequently recovered from the pond with all four deceased occupants inside.

The North Carolina State Highway Patrol Collision Reconstruction Unit investigated the fatal crash. A subsequent Highway Patrol review found no wrongdoing by the trooper who initiated the pursuit.

The 02/01/2021 Duplin County entry in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatality Analysis Reporting System, documenting four fatalities, corresponds with this independently documented North Carolina State Highway Patrol pursuit and crash.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.witn.com/2021/02/02/four-people-trapped-inside-of-submerged-vehicle/
https://www.wral.com/story/four-killed-in-duplin-county-car-chase/19504993/
https://www.wwaytv3.com/four-dead-one-rescued-after-car-landed-in-duplin-county-pond-during-police-chase/
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article248972765.html
https://www.wral.com/story/deadly-north-carolina-police-chase-policies-practices-rarely-scrutinized/19684583/