Extracted from The Smithfield Herald (Smithfield, NC)
Truck Plows Into Car, Killing Three Instantly
A tractor-trailor log truck traveling on the wrong side of the highway crashed almost headlong into a car, instantly killing the auto's driver and two passengers at 6:45 p.m. Saturday on rural paved road 1331 approximately four miles north of Benson.
Succumbing to severe head and body injuries were:
Joseph Leon Lee, 59, of Newport News, Va., driver of a 1966 Mercury passenger car.
Mrs. Wanda Gale Barbour Futch, 21, of Route 3, Benson, a granddaughter of Mr. Lee.
Scott H. Stephenson, 5, of Route 4, Dunn, a grandson of Mr. Lee.
State Trooper M. G. Tew, who headed the investigation of the Labor Day week-end accident, reported that Larry Graham, 21, of 313 West Harnett Street, Benson, driver of the truck, was charged with drunken driving and three counts of manslaughter.
Not Injured
The investigating officer said Graham and two passengers in the truck, Raymond Hemmingway of Route 2, Benson, and Kenneth Bell of 405 West Harnett Street, Benson, escaped unhurt.
The unloaded truck, owned by Charles Lee Byrd of Route 3, Benson, was traveling south and the car north, said Trooper Tew.
In a right curve, the truck ran off the road on the left side, traveled 350 feet on the left shoulder and left lane of the highway, hitting a mail box and pine tree before crashing into the car, the investigating officer reported.
The truck plowed through the passenger area of the car and carried the auto 125 feet down the highway before coming to a stop on the right-hand shoulder, said the officer.
The mangled bodies of the three victims remained in the car wreckage, Trooper Tew said.
The car, valued at approximately $1,000, was listed as a total loss. Damage to the tractor-trailor was estimated at $6,000 to $7,000.
The three deaths raised to 19 the number of persons to die of injuries sustained in motor vehicle accidents in Johnston County this year.
Assisting Trooper Tew at the accident scene were Sgts. C. F. Futrell and J. F. Allsbrook of the State Highway Patrol and members of the Benson Rescue Squad.
The funeral for Mrs. Futch was conducted at 11 a.m. Monday at Burnell Baptist Church by the Rev. Kenneth Thornton and the Rev. James David Tart. Interment followed in Hills-of-the-Neuse Memorial Gardens near Smithfield.
Surviving Mrs. Futch are her husband, Ray Delmonte Futch, a veteran of the Vietnam conflict; her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Linwood Barbour of Route 3, Benson; a brother, Keith Barbour of Route 3, Benson; a sister, Pam Barbour of Route 3, Benson; her paternal grandmother, Mrs. Flossie Barbour of Route 3, Benson; and her maternal grandmother, Mrs. Maxine Core Lee of Newport News, Va.
Final rites for Mr. Lee and the Stephenson boy were held at 4 p.m. Monday at Gospel Tabernacle Church in Dunn by the Rev. H. C. Potter. Burial followed in Greenwood Cemetery.
Surviving Mr. Lee are his wife, Mrs. Maxine Core Lee of Newport News; a son, William (Buddy) Lee of Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D.; two daughters, Mrs. Callie Lee Stephenson of Route 4, Dunn, and Mrs. Jeanette Lee Barbour of Route 3, Benson; two sisters, Mrs. Lector Lee of Norfolk, Va., and Mrs. Barney King of Durham; and eight grandchildren.
Surviving the Stephenson boy are his mother, Mrs. Callie Lee Stephenson of Route 4, Dunn; a brother, Michael Stephenson of the home; his maternal grandmother, Mrs. Maxine Core Lee of Newport News; his paternal grandmother, Mrs. Mildred Mason Stephenson of Erwin; and his paternal great-grandmother, Mrs. Lonie Mason of Erwin.
Tuesday, September 7, 1971