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Witness shaken by fatal Sampson collision

The State Highway Patrol was still trying Monday to determine the cause of a head-on collision in Sampson County over the weekend that left three people dead.

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FALCON, N.C. — The State Highway Patrol was still trying Monday to determine the cause of a head-on collision in Sampson County over the weekend that left three people dead.

Jason Williams, 32, of Godwin, was northbound on Tew Road with his wife and two children when his Nissan Murano crossed the center line and collided head-on with a Nissan Altima driven by Katie Lee, 21, of Dunn at the Baptist Chapel Road intersection.

A woman who lives nearby heard a boom and called 911 for help. She was still shaken Monday as she recalled the crash, saying she knew right away from the mangled wreckage that there would be fatalities.

"The guys that were trying to get her out of that car and get him out, and they couldn't get them out," said the woman, who asked that her name not be used.

Williams, his 5-year-old son, Christopher, and Lee died at the scene. Williams' wife and their toddler daughter were taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville for treatment. Their conditions Monday weren't known.

The witness said the driver of another vehicle told her she just missed being hit by the Murano.

"There was a lady walking towards me, and she said that she was in front of Katie's car and that the SUV coming towards her swerved into her lane, and she almost went into the ditch to keep from being hit," the woman said. "She almost went off the road into the ditch, and then the car behind her got hit."

Highway Patrol investigators are waiting for Williams' wife to recover from her injuries enough to tell them what happened.

Investigators said no charges will be filed in the case because the drivers of both vehicles died.

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