3 girls hit by car while selling lemonade; 2 were airlifted to hospital

MORGANTON, NC – “I was scared. I didn’t know what to do,” says Elizabeth Boleyn. She says it happened so fast; she watched as her seven-year-old sister and two other girls, ages 8 and 9, got hit by a car as they sold lemonade on the side Conley Road in Morganton Tuesday afternoon. Boleyn says, “I never actually thought that something like this was going to happen.”

Her uncle, David Denton, says “The kid(s) (are just) just trying to come up and have fun there for the summertime, trying to sell lemonade.”

While the wreckage is now gone, the traumatic scene is seared into his mind. He says, “When you see the wreck, that’s what really gets to your head is traumatizing, and it just really upsets you.”

Grandmother Cheryl Fox says she got a panicked call from her daughter, who said, “Mama, you need to hurry and get here. Annabelle’s been ran (sic) over.” The speed limit along the road is 45 mph. Fox has a message for drivers in the area: “Be more mindful that there’s kids out of school for the summer,” she says.

Neighbor David Aldridge says he heard the wreck. He says there is always traffic on the roadway, including logging trucks. “Actually, it was a matter of time. I am so sorry that it was little kids that got hurt.”

Two of the girls were airlifted to the hospital, one was taken by ambulance. Seven-year-old Annabelle was in surgery Tuesday afternoon. We know one of the girls was home from the hospital Tuesday night. The driver, 24-year-old Haley McCorkle of Hickory, faces charges for failure to yield. NC Highway Patrol says the wreck was accidental and not caused by speed or alcohol.