Mother forgives driver fined $25 for fatal crash

Mitchell Grey Wilkerson, now 19, originally was charged with misdemeanor death by vehicle in the May 20, 2013, crash. Greenville police said his Ford F-250 pickup crossed the center line on East Arlington Boulevard and slammed into a Honda Accord driven by Elizabeth Griffiths, 20. The senior accounting major was trapped in the car and died at Vidant Medical Center.

The case ended in a mistrial in February when the judge handling the case realized he knew a potential witness. A second mistrial occurred in June when jurors voted 11-1 for acquittal. That prompted a plea deal to the cellphone charge to resolve it.

Wilkerson was 17 at the time of the crash, and state law prohibits anyone younger than 18 from using a cellphone while driving.

"You mean to tell me my daughter's life was only worth $25?" an upset Sharon Carter said Thursday.

Carter said Pitt County prosecutors told her they didn't want to try the case a third time because they didn't think they could win a conviction.

"I felt like they should try the case again," she said. "I still want justice because I don’t feel like justice has been served."

Griffiths, who went by "Lizz," was Carter's only daughter and the youngest of her three children.

"Losing her has had a great impact on my life. There are some days that are still difficult, but it’s getting easier as time goes by," she said. "I don’t think there was a person who knew her who didn’t love her."

Carter said Wilkerson has never apologized to her for her daughter's death, but she said she had to forgive him.

"Because I need to have peace in my life and because I need to move forward, the forgiveness that he will never ask for has already been granted," she said. "I have to trust and believe that the God I serve has a better plan, that he has a purpose and, although it may not have worked out the way I wanted it to, all things work to good in God's eyes."