A truck hit Sims on Weaver Dairy Road, not far from the Interstate 40 interchange with N.C. 86 where Sims and her husband, Taz Herbert, had camped last year before residents' complaints drew the Orange County Sheriff's Office to remove them.

Sims, 38, had been homeless for years. She was addicted to alcohol and said in an interview last year that she had lost custody of her children at some point. She was convicted of child abuse in 1996.

Chapel Hill resident Amy Crump met Sims recently at a potluck dinner at the Hargraves Community Center. Sims had held Crump's baby daughter Ainsley, danced to an acoustic guitar and talked about how much she missed her own children.

"I just love that little girl," Sims told Matt Carter, one of the dinner's organizers.

Johnnie "D.C." Cooper, who lives on the streets battling drug addiction, said liquor had killed his friend Barbara and was killing her husband, Taz Herbert, whom he said is suffering from liver disease and doesn't have long to live.

"All he's doing right now is sitting around and sleeping," said Cooper. "He can't even keep his eyes open."

Friends said Herbert was under observation in the UNC Hospitals' psychiatric ward because of the trauma of losing his wife. The couple were constant companions and could be seen from the west end of Carrboro to the East Franklin Street area of Chapel Hill. They built friendships with other homeless people all over the community.

"If she has something, she would share it with you," Cooper said. "A lot of people would take advantage of her because she was too friendly."

The accident is under investigation. Anyone who witnessed the collision should call Lt. Chuck Quinlan at the police department, 968-2760 or send e-mail to cquinlan@townofchapelhill.org.

The town is planning to begin construction on a Weaver Dairy Road project that will include a traffic island forcing drivers to turn only right into and out of Perkins Drive, where Sims was hit.

Police have not released any information suggesting that project would have saved Sims.

Sims' death was the second fatal pedestrian accident in Chapel Hill in three days.

On Thursday, Lisa Carolyn Moran, 20, of Scotland was jogging when a bus struck her near UNC Hospitals. She was an exchange student at UNC-Chapel Hill who was to return to Scotland this week.