Mother, child injured in accident

Emergency personnel work the scene of an accident in China Grove that sent a mother and her daughter to the hospital. Photo by Sarah Nagem, Salisbury Post.

By Sarah Nagem

snagem@ salisburypost.com

Rescue workers flew a China Grove woman and her 4-year-old daughter to the hospital Monday after the car they were in hit a tree on N.C. 152 near Kress Venture Drive.

Jessica Morris, 19, and her daughter, Alexis, were traveling east on N.C. 152 in a 1988 Chevrolet Celebrity just after 6:30 p.m., said Trooper C.F. Rogers with the Highway Patrol.

"She crossed the center line, went off the road to the left, hit a tree and overturned," Rogers said.

Morris, of 225 Morris Hill Drive, China Grove, and her daughter were the only people in the car, he said.

Rogers said both were alert when rescue workers got to the scene. They were flown to Carolina Medical Center in Charlotte, where information about their medical conditions was not immediately available Monday night.

Rogers said Morris was pinned under the car's dashboard and sustained a leg injury. She was not wearing a seatbelt, he said.

Alexis was in a booster seat, Rogers said. He did not know the extent of her injuries.

"The 4-year-old was still screaming," he said. "So that's a good sign. She was still screaming when they put her in the helicopter."

A witness to the crash was traveling near Morris' car, but the woman said she didn't know what caused the accident, Rogers said.

He said Morris didn't give an explanation.

"She couldn't tell me why," Rogers said. "The witness said she just veered off the road."

The car's front end was smashed and twisted, and the top of the car was crushed.

Alcohol and speed were not factors in the crash, Roger said.

China Grove and Bostian Heights fire departments responded to the accident. The Rowan County Rescue Squad and Rowan County EMS also responded.