GARNER, North Carolina — A husband and wife were killed and their son is not expected to survive after a driver ran a red light at a Garner intersection Monday afternoon.
The crash happened shortly before 1:30 p.m. near the intersection of U.S. 70 and New Rand Road.
According to the Garner Police Department, a Chevrolet Trailblazer, driven by Jordan Alexander Porter, 25, was traveling west on U.S. 70 and ran a red light, striking a blue Mazda CX5 Select and a black Cadillac Escalade at the intersection.
Porter, who was taken to hospital with minor injuries, was charged with impaired driving. According to Garner police, additional charges are expected.
Two adults in the Mazda, Tyler Campbell, 28, and Susan Campbell, 29, died from their injuries. Their 8-year-old son, Miles, was taken to WakeMed in critical condition.
According to a family member, Miles was declared brain dead on Tuesday and is “not expected to survive” his injuries.
The passengers in the Escalade were not injured.
Your browser does not support HTML5 video.
The Garner couple loved to travel and went to North Carolina State
Tyler Campbell’s sister told WRAL News the couple graduated from North Carolina State University and stayed in the Triangle after college. The couple and their son lived about 2.5 miles from the crash site, she said.
According to relatives, the family was adventurous and loved to travel.
Tyler Campbell, an Eagle Scout, has run marathons and 5Ks and planned to run a marathon in Chicago next month, his sister said. Tyler worked at a software company while Susan worked as a nurse at WakeMed Cary.
His aunt said Miles was a Cub Scout, baseball player and martial arts student at Snap Kick Martial Arts.
Relatives shared this statement with WRAL News: “Miles is in critical condition, and they tell us his chances of survival are slim, but we are still praying for a miracle. »
Their request is to “make sure people know how much they were loved by their entire family.”
Family members shared a photo of the couple at an NC State football game.
Garner Baseball Inc. held a vigil Tuesday at Lions Field, located at 417 W. Main St., writing:
“The Campbell family is part of the GBI family, as Miles played with the Trash Pandas in the Pinto League this season. We are absolutely heartbroken for the Campbell family and we are praying and thinking of Miles and his team of doctors, first responders, classmates, teammates and friends as he fights for his life.
Baseball games will be delayed until 7 p.m. due to the vigil.
Snap Kick Martial Arts also posted about the family, writing, “Susan and Tyler were wonderful parents and valuable members of our community. Their unwavering support and kindness touched many of us, and their loss is profoundly felt by all who knew them.”
Snap Kick Martial Arts held another vigil an hour later at 1411 Aversboro Road in Garner. Many family members and friends stayed after the vigil to comfort each other.
Police closed the eastbound lanes of U.S. 70 between New Rand and Benson roads for hours Monday afternoon.
A Cumberland County resident, who identified herself as “Donna,” was shopping for mattresses in Garner with her husband and narrowly missed the accident.
“If I had pulled out a few seconds earlier, it would have been me,” she said.
Family members say Miles will become an organ donor.
Your browser does not support HTML5 video.
Accused man has a long history of traffic offenses
A closer look at Porter shows he has a list of traffic violations going back years, including a different accident from nearly seven years ago.
WRAL News uncovered a lawsuit against Jordan Porter for a three-car crash in 2017. He was dropped, but he was charged with speeding, improper passing and not being able to control the car.
Since 2015, Porter has been subject to 12 violations. Nine were fired, including for hit-and-run, speeding and reckless driving. He was found responsible for two.
Porter has another pending case, for driving more than 20 miles per hour over the speed limit.
Scott Holmes is a law professor at North Carolina Central. Holmes said dismissed charges are not necessarily missing from a person’s record for future cases.
“These kinds of accusations really deserve special attention because they concern public safety,” Holmes said. “Judges have the opportunity to try to do justice in particular cases and give weight to anything related to traffic history that they deem important in trying to pass a fair sentence. »
But we don’t have an answer as to why Porter wasn’t punished in the majority of these cases.
Wake County Prosecutor Lorrin Freeman provided a statement on Porter’s traffic record:
“Mr. Porter is currently charged with several offenses in Wake County stemming from this tragic accident. Under the rules that govern prosecutors, I cannot comment on this matter and it would not be appropriate for me to characterize his criminal history. driving at that time In 2022, he was charged in Wake County with hit-and-run and theft stemming from allegations that he was involved in a parking lot collision and when he and the other driver. were on site, he removed the driver’s wallet from his vehicle After several adjustments to this case and after the victim was summoned to appear in court, it appears from the examination of the file that the case was closed. without action when the court refused to prosecute it and the victim did not appear One of the reasons why a case can end in dismissal is that the witnesses do not appear in court and the The State is unable to move forward. As for other prior charges involving Mr. Porter, it would not be appropriate for me to speculate as to why a case may be dismissed by a prosecutor in another district. Generally speaking, factors prosecutors consider when deciding how to move forward with a case include the strength of the evidence, the availability of witnesses, the defendant’s background, and the risk to public safety.