Report: Teens were speeding before fatal north Raleigh wreck

Jared Paul Williams, 14, of Raleigh, was killed when the 2006 Kia he was riding in ran into the back of a school bus on Falls of Neuse Road.

Driver David Lawrence Asato, 16, of Franklinton, and back-seat passenger Nolan Mayo Lundberg, 15, of Raleigh, were taken to WakeMed for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. Both were listed in fair condition Tuesday.

All three teens are students at Neuse Christian Academy, a school in north Raleigh with 76 high school students.

Police said charges are pending against Asato, but investigators are still trying to piece together what happened.

A Wake County school bus was making a left turn from Falls of Neuse Road onto Harps Mill Road at about 4 p.m. Monday when the northbound Kia hit the right rear of the bus, according to an accident report. The Kia wound up under the bus, and the collision forced the back of the bus into a 1999 Honda, which was waiting at the traffic light at Harps Mill Road, the report said.

The bus driver, Willamia Ruffin Williams, 42, of Raleigh, and the two people in the Honda, Adolf Naum Lando, 79, and Tsitsiliya Semyonovna Lando, 73, both of Cary, were uninjured in the wreck.

No students were on the school bus at the time of the wreck.

The Kia was traveling at 60 mph before the collision, and there was no sign that Asato tried to brake or swerve to avoid the collision, according to the police report. The posted speed limit along that section of Falls of Neuse Road is 45 mph.

Police also noted that Asato has a provisional driver's license and is prohibited from having more than one non-family passenger in his car under North Carolina law.

Police asked again Tuesday for any witnesses to the wreck to come forward and help them determine exactly what happened. Anyone who saw the collision or saw any of the vehicles involved immediately prior to the crash is asked to call 919-996-3350.