Raleigh mom charged in 12-year-old son's motor-vehicle death

Laura Lynne Smith, 49, was jailed under a $60,000 secured bond on charges of felony death by motor vehicle and driving while impaired in connection with the Oct. 13 afternoon crash on Creedmoor Road in Raleigh.

Antony Smith was with his mother when, police say, she lost control of her Chevrolet Suburban and ran off the road before coming to a rest against a tree between Sawmill and Lynn roads.

Antony Smith died at the scene, and Laura Smith had been in the hospital since.

Investigators found that Laura Smith was traveling at 74 mph in a 45-mph zone and had a blood alcohol level of 0.32 – four times the level at which a driver is considered impaired under North Carolina law.