Police still sorting out cause of fatal Fayetteville wreck

The wreck happened at about 6:30 p.m. in the 3500 block of Murchison Road.

Police identified those killed as John Wesley Morrow, 67, of Fayetteville, Jimmy Campbell, 50, of Lumberton, and Laytosha McNair, 35, of Raeford. A fourth driver, Jennifer Chagnon, 40, of Clemmons, wasn't seriously injured.

Witnesses say the accident happened when Morrow stopped to avoid hitting someone driving erratically and headed north towards Fort Bragg. McNair's 2003 Volkswagen then slammed into the back of Morrow's 2010 Nissan pickup.

"He hit the brakes, and the car behind him ran straight into him – up under the truck – and the other truck had side-swiped the car and flipped over and hit the pole," witness David Watson said.

Campbell was driving the 2006 Chevrolet pickup that hit McNair's car and before overturning.

"You could smell, like, Freon, battery acid all over the air," said Eddie Medina, who works at a nearby auto parts store on Murchison Road. "I was hesitant of going over there because I didn’t want anything to explode. But I went over there to check on the lady, and as soon as I saw her, I could tell (she was dead)."

Members of Campbell's family trekked to Fayetteville from Lumberton on Thursday to see where he died.

"Jimmy was a person who what I would call a gentle giant," said his brother, Billy Campbell. "He was a person with a real humble spirit. He was a very likable person, and you couldn't find a better person."

Fayetteville police are still trying to sort out the sequence of events in the pile-up, and they ask that anyone with information about the wreck call the Fayetteville Police Department's Traffic Unit at 910-433-1036.

“Officers with the Traffic Unit, they’ll continue to investigate that. They’ll download data from those vehicles, talk with witnesses that have come forward and any other persons that may have seen something (and) gives us a call," Lt. Todd Joyce said.

Murchison Road was closed between Pamalee Drive and Shaw Mill Road while emergency crews worked the scene. It reopened at about 1 a.m. Thursday.