Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012

Friend called 911 to report speeder before crash that killed teen

Passenger died in crash

A friend of Elizabeth Kelsey Molloy called 911 a few minutes before Molloy was killed in a car accident early Saturday to report that she was riding in a Jeep Grand Cherokee with a drunken driver at a high rate of speed in North Raleigh.

In a one-minute, expletive-filled call, the unidentified male caller said the Jeep’s driver was “with a girl that I know. He’s going to (expletive) kill her, dude,” according to a 911 recording made public Thursday. The call was made at 2 a.m. Saturday.

Police say the caller was referring to the Jeep Grand Cherokee that ran off Rainwater Road and hit a tree at 2:07 a.m., killing Molloy.

The driver of the Jeep, Garrett Lane Prince, 16, of 11004 Coachman’s Way in Raleigh, has been in jail since Saturday on charges of felony death by motor vehicle, driving while impaired, provisional driving while impaired, careless and reckless driving, speeding, possession of alcohol and possession of marijuana.

The 911 caller told a dispatcher that the Jeep had just passed the vehicle he was traveling in “going 90,” according to the recording. “It should be on, like, (expletive) Durant Road or around the Falls of the Neuse area,” the caller said.

Police have not said where Prince and Molloy were coming from or where they were headed when the accident occurred. The 911 caller did not say, either.

Investigators say the Jeep was traveling south on Rainwater Road at 75 mph when it ran off the right side of the road, knocked down a mailbox, plowed through a yard and slammed head-on into a pine tree. The posted speed limit on Rainwater Road is 30 mph.

The dispatcher asked the 911 caller for his name, and the caller apparently provided a first name that was redacted from the recording. When the dispatcher asked for his last name, laughter from others can be heard in the background before the caller hung up.

The dispatcher called back, but no one answered.

Prince has been on probation since Sept. 9 on a charge of first-degree burglary that was reduced to larceny, court records show. Police accused Prince and another teen of stealing two mountain bikes from a home in North Raleigh.

In addition to probation, Wake County District Court Judge Keith Gregory ordered Prince to not use alcohol or illegal drugs as a condition of his sentence, court records show.

Prince remained at the Wake County jail Thursday with bail set at $61,000.

Police are still trying to determine how Prince obtained the alcohol on the night of the accident.