St. Aug's Student Killed in Motorcycle Crash

MOMEYER, N.C. — A man and a woman were killed and several other people were injured Saturday evening in an accident involving several motorcycles on a Nash County highway.

Ten motorcycles with at least 13 people were traveling together on westbound U.S. Highway 64 at about 7 p.m. when one of them crashed into another, the North Carolina Highway Patrol said. The other bikes veered away to avoid the crash and some wiped out in the median, according to witnesses.

Zakira Gatling, 19, of Patterson, N.J., and Alexander Wilson, 43, of Raleigh, died at the scene.

Authorities believe the crash was an accident and that Wilson's bike hit the other bike that Gatling and Earnest Powell, 17, of Raleigh, were riding.

At least four other people were taken to WakeMed in Raleigh for treatment. All of them but Powell were treated and later released. Powell was listed in fair condition Sunday morning.

"We noticed a big pile up, and automatically, I saw a whole bunch of bodies and bikes scattered," said Robert McNair, who was driving a car behind the motorcyclists when he saw the accident occur. "My first reaction was to pull on the side (of the road) and get out and help in any way possible that I could."

The victims were riding with a newly founded Raleigh-based biker club called Unleashed Aggression, one of the men riding Saturday evening told WRAL.

He said that Gatling, a student at St. Augustine's College in Raleigh, was not a member of the club but had been riding with friends.

Friends and family members of Wilson declined to comment Sunday but did say Wilson was a member of the club. He loved his bike and was a good man and a good father, they said. He is survived by three children.