Driver charged after fatal wreck

Published 3:46 pm Sunday, April 12, 2015

A Statesville woman with a history of impaired driving is facing charges in Rowan County after authorities say she was behind the wheel in a wreck that took her passenger’s life late Saturday night or early Sunday morning.

Erica Kristen McCarter, 23, of the 100 block of Field Crest Drive in Statesville, is charged with aggravated felony death by vehicle and driving while intoxicated.

McCarter was driving along Mount Tabor Church Road near Cleveland when she wrecked, ejecting and killing Devin Joseph, according to arrest warrants.

When law enforcement arrived, she was unsteady on her feet, and “unsatisfactorly” performed “walk and turn” and “one leg stand” field sobriety tests, according to Trooper C.K. Ridenhour’s reports.

The report also stated McCarter exhibited slow, lethargic movements, slow speech and mixed emotions. She also fell asleep in the patrol car on the way to the hospital.

McCarter told troopers she took Norco, a narcotic pain reliever, around 6 p.m., took a Xanax around 9 p.m. and drank one or two beers between 11 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.

McCarter’s blood-alcohol content at the time of the accident is not yet available, because results from her blood test have not come back yet.

McCarter has a history of impaired driving charges.

According to the warrant, she’s been convicted of impaired driving in Guilford County in the past seven years.

She also has a court date scheduled for June 5 in Iredell County for charges of driving while impaired, driving left of center and a hit and run in which she is accused of failing to stop or notify police of property damage.

McCarter is also currently on probation for larceny charges tied to a May 2013 case in which she and three others were charged with metal thefts in Iredell, Rowan and Cabarrus counties.

McCarter is currently being held in the Rowan County Detention Center on a $100,000 bond.

More information will be added as it becomes available.