5 killed in crash after driver hits tree in Lee County, Highway Patrol says

LEE COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- Five people were killed in a crash early Sunday morning in Lee County.

The North Carolina State Highway Patrol (NCSHP) said the crash happened just before 12:30 a.m. on Colon Road.

The Highway Patrol said the driver of a Dodge Charger was speeding, ran off the road, and slammed into a tree.

All five people inside the car died.

The crash happened yards away from one woman's property. State troopers instructed her to stay back from the crash site during their initial investigation.

"After the ambulances picked them children up, and to watch that one I did not realize was a mere feet away from, that was still trapped in that car," the woman said, "To see that. That child. That stuff sticks with you."

The woman did not want to be identified but said debris from the car was scattered not far from her property line.

"The car went off the road, hit the first set of three trees ... the car was split in half," she said.

Remnants from the car's interior and exterior could still be seen Monday evening.

Family members said the driver of the Charger was 19-year-old Johan Acosta Romero.

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"She said she can't believe it," his mother, Edith Romero, said via a translator. Romero visited the memorial on Monday to see for herself. "She thought it was a lie," the translator said.

Romero told ABC11 that she and her son would text every single day asking how the other was doing. On Saturday, she texted him about his day and she said he did not respond.

Romero also said she will miss "everything" about her son and encouraged other parents "to tell their kids to not be in the streets too late."

She also identified her nephew, Josue Diaz, as another passenger in the car.

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The identities of the others killed have not been released pending identification from the medical examiner's office.

"They don't get to see them grow up anymore. They don't get to have life," the woman who lives nearby reflected. "They don't get to have a family. They don't get to play ball anymore."

The Highway Patrol is still investigating the crash.