2 die when driver fleeing state troopers crashes into truck in Kenly

Footage from Sky 5 showed wreckage spilled out over U.S. Highway 301 near Interstate 95 in Kenly.

A state trooper saw 45-year-old Tanya Renee Terry in a black Dodge Charger driving 112 miles per hour in a 55-mile per hour zone along Oscar Loop Road in Wilson County around 8:35 a.m. Monday. When Terry did not stop for the trooper's siren, a chase ensued into Johnston County and part of Kenly.

Floyd Nichols was outside his tire shop in downtown Kenly when he saw the black sedan fly by.

"We figured it was going to end up pretty bad," he said.

Terry crossed the center line and hit a white Ford pickup truck driven by 52-year-old Otis Ray Allen pickup truck head-on. The drivers of both vehicles were taken to WakeMed with serious injuries.

Two passengers in the truck, 43-year-old Marvin Dave Atkinson and 56-year-old Thaddeus Eugene Mickens, died at the scene.

Terry is facing charges of two counts of second-degree murder, speeding 112 mph in a 55-mph zone and felony speeding to elude.

Barbara Mickens, the cousin of Mickens, said all three people in the truck were longtime family friends. They were heading to work in Wilson to do a concrete pouring job, Barbara Mickens said.

Cindy Taft, Atkinson's girlfriend, explained how Monday was a normal morning prior to the crash.

"I dropped him off at work, we kissed good bye, 'See you later [and] have a good day' [like we] always do,” Taft said.

Taft explained what Atkinson was like in an interview with WRAL News.

“Marvin was beautiful person,” Taft said. “You couldn’t be around Marvin and not laugh. You couldn’t not have a good time.”

Atkinson leaves behind three children, according to Taft.

"My other half is now gone," Taft said of Atkinson.

The surrounding stretch of road was closed through 5 p.m. Monday.

WRAL News asked whether troopers should have pursued the driver or if they should have done anything differently. The State Highway Patrol has yet to respond to those questions.