Boy dies after running in front of pickup on icy Lee road

Christian Fore was crossing Black's Chapel Road, in the Olivia community about 8 miles south of Sanford, at about 7 p.m. when he was hit, authorities said. He was taken to Duke University Hospital, where he died.

Jason Hardin, Christian's 14-year-old brother, said the boy was following him and a cousin across the slick two-lane road from their grandmother's house toward their home when a pickup rounded the bend.

"He walked across the road, and I told him not to go, but he did," Hardin said Monday.

He said he tried to pull Christian out of the truck's path but couldn't.

"It was right there in front of me," he said. "It's painful."

The driver, Christopher Womack, 38, of Sanford, was traveling at between 35 and 40 mph, authorities said. The speed limit along Black's Chapel Road is 55 mph.

No charges will be filed against Womack, authorities said, because Christian was wearing dark clothes and darted into the truck's path.

Christian, a second-grader at Greenwood Elementary School, loved the snow, according to his brother. He also was eager to ride a BMX bike he got for Christmas.

"(He) had plans to get out and ride (Monday), but I guess that's not going to happen," Hardin said.

Hardin's grandfather also died this year.

"It's kind of hard, you know. We've been through a lot this year," he said.

The family is seeking financial help and is asking for donations to be sent to Bridges-Cameron Funeral Home in Sanford.

Four people were killed in traffic wrecks across North Carolina on Sunday. The Highway Patrol responded to 2,385 calls for assistance statewide.

In Johnston County, 6-year-old Jace Cole of Greenville died late Sunday when his mother's pickup hit a patch of ice on a U.S. Highway 70 bridge a couple of miles south of Clayton and flipped several times in the median, authorities said.