Wrecks kills former resident
By Staff and Wire
Published in News on December 26, 2004 2:06 AM
A former Goldsboro police officer and his wife were killed Friday in a hit-and-run accident on southbound Interstate 95 between Wilson and Rocky Mount.
Delinwood Earl Pearson, 50, and Janet Johnson Pearson, 47, of Richmond, Va., died after their Corvette was sideswiped by a truck and crashed into a bridge support.
The Pearsons were travelling back to this area for the holidays, his father said Saturday night.
"He called me Thursday night and told me to have some (pork) skins ready because he was coming," said Jimmie Pearson of Kinston. "I shopped all around all day Friday and finally found some at Parker's, but he didn't make it."
Delinwood Pearson grew up in Goldsboro and graduated from Goldsboro High School, his father said in a telephone interview. He spent three years in the U.S. Army and later worked several years as a Goldsboro police officer.
He has spent the last 20 years as a U.S. marshal. "He was supposed to retire in eight days," Jimmie Pearson said. "He was a great man, a real nice fellow."
Mrs. Pearson was a Richmond native. The couple had been married 14 years and did not have children.
The N.C. Highway Patrol said the wreck happened about 1 p.m. Friday when an 18-wheeler was trying to merge on Interstate 95, just outside of Rocky Mount, and caused the Pearson's Corvette to lose control and hit a pillar on a bridge. The car fell about 30 feet and landed upside down.
After the wreck, the truck reportedly exited the interstate and was later stopped by authorities in Johnston County on U.S. 301 in Four Oaks.
Roy Jones Jr., 38, of Georgia, was arrested. Nash County Jail officials and the Highway Patrol would not release Jones' hometown or other information.
The interstate was littered with debris and Christmas presents that were in the car.
From staff and wire reports