Driver charged after grandmother killed, teens hurt in Johnston crash
A Smithfield man suspected of driving while impaired has been charged in a weekend crash that left a woman dead and four others hurt, according to police and court documents.
Posted — UpdatedFelix Antonio Juarez-Antunez, 34, of 1519 Barbour Road, has been charged with felony death by vehicle and three counts of felony serious injury by vehicle. He was being held Monday under $350,000 bond at the Wake County jail, according to an arrest warrant.
According to court documents, a 15-year-old boy has no brain function, and a 14-year-old boy suffered neck and spinal injuries in the crash, which occurred at about 10:30 p.m. Sunday at Wilsons Mills Road and M. Durwood Stephenson Highway in Smithfield.
The warrant identified the woman who was killed as Marjory Howell Wagner Regan.
The injured included a teen girl, her brother and a family friend, according to a Facebook post. Regan was the grandmother of two of the injured teens, and she was driving them home from the movies when the crash occurred.
Hailey Wagner, one of the injured, is a student at Smithfield Selma High School and was recently crowned Miss Garner's Outstanding Teen, according to pageant organizers.
Juarez-Antunez and a passenger were in Toyota sedan when it collided with a Dodge minivan, authorities said.
"It sounded like a big explosion," said Denise Massey, who lives nearby. "It startled me, so I jumped up, and I was like, 'Oh my God, there was an accident."
Massey said she and her son ran to the scene and found the roof of the van crushed in and a teen girl who had climbed out the back window.
"They probably were coming from dinner or something like that – innocent," she said. "When they said that the grandmother died, I can’t help but think of those kids. They were there."
The crash victims, including Juarez-Antunez, were rushed to WakeMed in Raleigh for treatment.
"You don’t cause an accident when you get in your car and you’re drunk. That’s not an accident because that could have been avoided," Massey said. "You got to be more responsible. You going to drink? Stay home. Don’t get behind the wheel."
Police have not yet officially identified the victims in the crash.
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