STATESVILLE, N.C. — Two people were killed, including a 5-year-old, and several others were hurt in a crash involving a suspected drunk driver and golf cart in Iredell County, North Carolina late Monday night, police said.
Multiple emergency crews responded to a crash involving a golf car on Fort Dobbs Road near Dobbs Drive in Statesville around 9:45 p.m., the North Carolina Department of Public Safety said. Officers said a 2009 Honda Accord crossed the center line, hitting the golf car head-on.
The driver of the golf cart, Michael Shane Marlowe, 39, of Statesville, died at the scene. A passenger, 5-year-old Bentley Marlowe, also died from his injuries. Four passengers on the golf cart, ages 2, 13, 16, and 26, were critically injured and transported by medical helicopters to Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, troopers reported.
The family's church, First Presbyterian Church of Statesville, posted on Facebook to express their sadness.
"Bentley's teachers are in shock. We all need you to pray for his family that they will have comfort beyond words. They will need silence beyond explanations and people in presence where there is now great absence," the church posted.
As news spread of the crash, friends and coworkers at Marlowe's family-owned business hung a wreath on the door.
They told WCNC Charlotte the family is very loved, and that Marlowe never met a stranger.
Officials said the driver of the Honda, Austin Ray Harmon, 23, of Statesville, was not injured. Harmon was arrested and charged with driving while impaired, two counts of felony death by vehicle, and three counts of felony serious injury by vehicle.
Harmon appeared in court Tuesday and was held on $250,000 bond.
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