Wreck kills 6-year-old on way to wedding

State troopers said the fatal wreck occurred on N.C. Highway 43, between Greenville and Falkland. The Honda Accord that 6-year-old Ava Kendall was traveling in with two bridesmaids was headed south to Greenville.

A Jeep Cherokee traveling north crossed the center line and hit the car head on, troopers said.

Kendall was killed.

She was supposed to be the flower girl in Rachel Jones' wedding.

"April 9 will never be what we thought it was going to be," Jones said.

She came across the crash on her way to the church and and said she "knew right away."

"One was dead," she said. "How do you pick one of three? You can't."

The Honda driver, 22-year-old Michele Garland, her passenger, 13-year-old Lindsey Whitehurst, and the Jeep driver, Mupin Wu Cummings, 39, of Pinetops, were taken to Pitt County Memorial Hospital, where they were all listed in fair condition Sunday evening.

The investigation of the wreck is ongoing, troopers said, but they do not believe alcohol was a factor. No charges have been filed.

Jones said she's turning to pictures and memories to help her cope with the loss of the energetic, outgoing flower girl.

"Anywhere we went, people would stop to talk to her because she was explosive with personality and she was beautiful," she said.