Toddler killed in Johnston wreck

Latrisha Slack, 22, ran off the right side of N.C. Highway 96 near Antioch Church Road outside of Selma at about 4 p.m. Her 1997 Chevrolet car hit a ditch, came back across the highway and ran off the left side, where it hit a tree and flipped, authorities said.

Madison Alaina "Maddie" Creech was trapped in the overturned car in her car seat and died, authorities said.

Friends said Slack, her boyfriend, Derrell Atkins, and their friend, Matthew Grant Creech, were headed to Tucker Lake to spend the day with their children when the crash occurred.

"They were just starting out, just starting their life together," friend Alex Grant said of the Creech family as he visited a memorial for Maddie Creech that friends created at the spot where she died.

Timothy Slack said his sister doesn't know how she lost control of the car.

Highway Patrol troopers said Latrisha Slack was driving 65 mph in a 55-mph zone. Everyone in the car was properly restrained, they said, and no one was thrown from the car.

The families have been friends for years, Timothy Slack said.

"We are a lot closer (now) than what we were," he said.

Latrisha Slack was listed in good condition Thursday at WakeMed in Raleigh. Atkins, 24, Creech, 22, and Ty-Anna Atkins, the infant daughter of Latrisha Slack and Atkins, were treated at WakeMed and released.

"She is doing all right," Timothy Slack said of his sister. "She has a bruised shoulder, a couple of scratches and that's it – a lot of heartbreak."

Latrisha Slack will be charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and speeding upon her release from the hospital, authorities said.