SUV driver charged with fatally hitting Rolesville High School student in Zebulon
A Youngsville man has been charged in the death of a 16-year-old Rolesville High School student who was fatally struck by a car on the shoulder of N.C. 96 in February.
The State Highway Patrol confirmed Friday that they charged Michael Lee Patton, 44, with failure to maintain lane and misdemeanor death by motor vehicle after hitting Darrell Edward Jent III on Feb. 21.
Jent, known as D.J. to his family and friends, had been walking to the Mitchell’s Food Mart gas station on the shoulder of Zebulon Road around 6 p.m. that night.
He was hospitalized at a WakeMed hospital, where he died Feb. 23, according to a GoFundMe online fundraiser set up for his funeral.
Jent lived with his step-grandmother about a mile from the store, where he was a regular customer.
Video shows fatal crash
Patton was driving a white Chevrolet Tahoe that went off the road and hit Jent, who fell into a ditch near Mitchell’s Food Mart.
Patton also struck a parked car at the gas pump and a vacant truck.
Security camera footage shows the Tahoe with a trailer attached to it barreling into the pump area at the gas station, hitting a parked car and pushing it out into a parking lot and hitting the rear of a truck.
The video does not show Jent being struck, who was on the road near the gas station when he was hit. Officials said speed was a factor and that Patton was not intoxicated.
The driver in the parked car was treated for minor injuries, while Patton was not hurt in the incident, according to WRAL, which first reported the charges.
This story was originally published March 4, 2022 at 5:16 PM.
