STATESVILLE – On Saturday, December 24, at approximately 3:10 p.m., the NC State Highway Patrol responded to and investigated a fatal collision in Iredell County on Garden Valley Road near the I-40 overpass. A 1999 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight was traveling north on Garden Valley Road, crossed the center line, ran off the road to the left, struck a bridge railing, overturned, and became submerged in the South Yadkin River. Investigators believe that the collision actually occurred on Thursday, December 22.
The driver of the Oldsmobile, Sequoia Chamon Cotton, 26, of Statesville, succumbed to her injuries at the scene. She was not restrained by a seatbelt. The preliminary investigation indicates excessive speed to be a contributing circumstance.