E.E. Smith High School is in mourning this week and likely for the remainder of the year after three students lost their lives.
Three high school football players will never get to realize their ultimate dreams in the sport or in life after they were tragically killed in a car crash in North Carolina this week.
The deadly crash happened in Fayetteville just before 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
Fayetteville police reported that it was a single-car accident. The car ran off the road and smacked into a telephone pole.
The three students from E.E. Smith High School all passed away at the scene. There was no chance of survival by the time the medical personnel arrived.
A fourth person was airlifted to a hospital in Chapel Hill.
This news comes on the heels of football star Danny Rivera suffering a medical emergency on the sidelines during a game and dying later at the hospital.
The Deceased E.E. Smith High School Students Have Been Identified
Three E.E. Smith High School football players were killed in a single-vehicle crash Wednesday night. A gray 2024 Honda Civic had run off the road and hit a telephone pole before going down an embankment and crashing into a tree.
The driver of the vehicle was the only survivor at the scene.
Cumberland County Schools provided grief counselors for students and faculty on Thursday to help with students who may be taking this situation incredibly hard.
In the meantime, the students, all football players, have been identified as 18-year-old Jai-Hyon Elliot, 17-year-old Trevor Merritt, and 17-year-old Nicholas Williams.
21-year-old Dymond N. Monroe was life-flighted to UNC Medical Center in critical condition.
Per ABC 11:
“It’s hard to really even comprehend. We’re saying we’re crying, we’re mourning, we’re hurting. And right now, we’re just present to support, to just be a listening ear and to just support everyone involved in this tragic situation,” said Lindsay Whitley, Cumberland County Schools Associate Superintendent of Communications.
Elliot and Merritt are listed as seniors at E.E. Smith High School.
As for Dymond N. Monroe, she is an Army veteran and the mother of a 7-month-old girl. Monroe remains in critical condition as of Friday morning. We can only hope and pray that she makes it out of this.
