Tuscola High School Student Dies in Vehicle Accident

Waynesville -- On Sunday afternoon at Lake Junaluska, an accident killed a teen from Tuscola.
The truck she was in went off the road,

rolled down the hill, and landed in the dry lakebed.

The accident happened around 3:45 p.m. on South Lakeshore Drive on Sunday, February 12.
Reports from the highway patrol say that speed was likely a factor in the accident.

Alexis Sherill, who was 17 years old and from Waynesville, was thrown out of the car as it turned over several times.
She was pronounced dead at the scene.

It’s tragic any time someone is killed in a motor vehicle collision, but it’s especially tragic when it is a teen.
Our hearts go out to the family,” said First Sgt. Brett Hipp with the N.C. Highway Patrol Troop G.

Ethan Lee Durham, 17, of Canton, was driving an older model F-150 truck when he went off the right side of the road,
hit a fence, and rolled down the hill.

Hipp said that it looked like Sherill wasn't wearing a seatbelt. He emphasized how important it is to wear seat belts.
In the last week, three teens have died in car accidents in the area. One of the deaths happened in Hendersonville, another in Buncombe, and the most recent one happened in Haywood.

Hipp said, "We can't say it enough." "Use seat belts and don't go over the speed limit." **

On South Lakeshore Drive, which is on the other side of the lake from the conference center, the car was going.
If the lake hadn't been partially drained for silt dredging, the car would have landed in the water at the bottom of the hill.

Durham and another passenger, Karisa Bradshaw, were both taken to Mission Hospital for treatment of injuries that were not life-threatening.

WNCTIMES by Marjorie Farrington