Apex man now charged with murder in high-speed crash that shut down US-1

CARY, N.C. (WTVD) -- A man now faces a murder charge in connection with a January crash that sent two people to the hospital.

Timothy Cox, 24, of Apex, was speeding at more than 100 mph Jan. 16 during rush hour on US-1 southbound near Cary when he lost control and struck another vehicle.

An off-duty Wake County Sheriff's deputy saw Cox's black Volkswagen speeding and turned around to try to stop him.

"It looked like a bomb went off when it hit. I mean, I was a ways back but it still looked like a bomb hit it," the deputy, Jimmy Byrd said, describing the extremely high-impact crash in the southbound lanes of the highway that he witnessed from start-to-finish as he tried to drive home in congested rush hour traffic.

Byrd said when he flipped on his lights and got behind Cox's Volkswagen, he refused to slow down.

"I was trying to gain on him enough to get a good vehicle description and a tag," he said.

Byrd said Cox's car "launched out of the grass airborne and into the back of this poor innocent victim just trying to get home."

The driver of the other vehicle, Scott Durso of Moncure, died at WakeMed two days after the crash.

Besides murder, Cox faces other charges, including eluding arrest.