On April 23, Margaret Marie Davis, of Aberdeen, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and aggravated felony death by motor vehicle in Moore County Superior Court, announced Moore County District Attorney Mike Hardin.
In the early morning hours, approximately 1:30 a.m., of Sept. 27, 2021, Davis, was involved in a traffic collision on Ashe Street at the intersection of Indiana Avenue in Southern Pines, said Hardin.
Davis was operating a Mazda 6 sedan and was traveling at approximately 60 miles per hour in the 35 miles per hour zone on Ashe Street when she ran the stop sign at Ashe and Indiana and struck a Jeep Cherokee SUV being operated by Jerry Wilson, of Aberdeen, said Hardin. Each vehicle only had one occupant. The defendant’s Mazda 6 T-boned the victim’s Jeep with its front end striking the passenger side door area. The impact was so severe that the Jeep rolled over onto its top and came to a rest.
Southern Pines Police Officer Robert Page was on patrol in the area and heard a loud collision and responded to the area of Ashe and Indiana and located the crash. Officer Page summoned additional units for assistance and activated EMS and fire units. Southern Pines officers, Moore County EMS and Southern Pines Fire personnel arrived and tended to both the victim and the defendant. Both were transported by Moore County EMS units to a nearby field where both victim and defendant were flown out on separate life flight helicopters to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill. Both had severe injuries.
Southern Pines officers continued to investigate the crash, and at the scene, they had noticed a strong odor of alcohol coming from the Davis and located alcohol in her vehicle, said Hardin. EMS personnel also noticed the strong odor of alcohol on Davis as they were tending to her medical needs. Lieutenant Brandon Lugabihl with the Southern Pines Police Department and troopers Jason Melton and Hugh Dixon with the NC State Highway Patrol Reconstruction Unit became the lead investigators in the crash and produced a crash reconstruction report that was essential in prosecuting this case, said Hardin.
Lieutenant Lugabihl obtained a search warrant to seize the medical records of Davis from UNC Hospitals in days following the crash, and the state contacted an expert to review the records. The expert’s opinion, based on the hospital records and Davis’ blood alcohol level when she was admitted into the hospital, was that at the time of the crash, it was no less than 0.19, said Hardin.
Wilson survived for 12 days at UNC Hospitals but succumbed to his injuries from the crash and died in the hospital. Wilson retired from the Alcohol Beverage Control Board, where he ended his law enforcement career as the chief of the ABC Enforcement Officers. Wilson spent the majority of his law enforcement career attempting to stop people from committing alcohol-related crimes.
Davis was sentenced by Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Michael A. Stone and given 132-171 months in the Department of Adult Corrections. She had previously been convicted of driving while impaired in Moore County on two prior occasions, in 2017 and 2011. The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Brian Chapman.
Contributed/Courtesy photo.
