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Mother of 3 was among dead in Fayetteville wreck

A cross made of broken limbs and roses marks the spot of a crash at Cliffdale Road and Lynhurst Drive in Fayetteville that left five people dead and at least two others injured Wednesday night.

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FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A cross made of broken limbs and roses marks the spot of a crash at Cliffdale Road and Lynhurst Drive in Fayetteville that left five people dead and at least two others injured Wednesday night.

At least three vehicles were involved in the crash, which Police Chief Harold Medlock referred to as the worst crash he has seen in his career.

Shannah Lee Botts, 33, was driving home after working out when the accident happened just five minutes from the home she shared with roommate Heather Boyd.

“She was just fun loving all around, go lucky, happy. [She’d] give you the shirt off her back,” Boyd said of Botts.

Boyd said she was told a red Mustang, driven by Terek Rashad Johnson, 22, was heading down Cliffdale Road when a Ford Crown Victoria driven by Dadrian Rashad Thomas, 29, entered the road.

“He swerved to avoid him and, in turn, ended up crashing into my best friend head-on and killing her,” Boyd said.

Boyd said Botts had three young children.

“I just want everything that’s best for the kids, what the mother would want for her children,” she said.

Five people were killed and at least two others were injured in a three-vehicle crash in Fayetteville on June 29, 2016.

Johnson was listed in serious condition at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center Thursday, while Thomas had been treated and released.

Investigators were still piecing together what happened Thursday afternoon. No charges have been filed, but authorities said speed was a factor in the crash.

“They’re still trying to determine what exactly caused the wreck, how the scenario played out. They are trying to figure out who was going in which direction and how fast they were going,” said Fayetteville Police Department spokesman David McLaurin. “They’ve got several versions of the story, and they’re trying to figure out which version meets the evidence that they have.”

Wednesday night’s wreck was the second fatal accident in Fayetteville within one week. Pine Forest High School student Rayshawn Daniels, 17, died Sunday on Sante Fe Drive. Police said he was one of six people inside an SUV that ran off the road near Coalition Boulevard and smashed into a tree.

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