A Franklin woman has been charged in connection with the deaths of two local teens in a wreck on May 24, 2021.
Stephanie Elizbeth Vincent was served warrants on March 21 for two counts of misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and two counts of involuntary manslaughter.
James Rodney Sweeten and Dakota Andrew Williamson, both 17, were killed in the wreck on Sanderstown Road.
According to North Carolina State Highway Patrol Trooper Hunter Gass, Vincent was driving a Chevy Tahoe traveling toward U.S. 23 (Sylva Road) that crossed the center line and struck a motorcycle the two teens were riding. They were ejected from the bike, which came to rest on the right shoulder of the road. The Tahoe flipped upside down and landed on its top on the right shoulder.
The wreck occurred at 6:20 p.m. Gass said he arrived at the scene about 13 minutes after he received the call, and a witness said there was only one person on the motorcycle. EMS and Fire were on the scene and recovered the motorcycle driver’s body in nearby trees. The next day, a friend of the motorcycle driver went to the scene to look for a helmet and discovered the second body in the woods.
Vincent was released on a $45,000 bond and is on the court docket for the administrative term of Superior Court that begins on June 27.