Edrick Smith, a former N.C. State University football player, was killed Sunday in a hit-and-run wreck at the intersection of North Tryon Street and Salome Church Road.
Smith, 29, was in the backseat of a Honda Accord that was struck by a speeding Camaro just before 1 a.m., according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police. The force of the collision split the Accord in two, the report said.
Smith was pronounced dead at Carolinas Medical Center.
Police say the driver of the Camaro, Hugo Fernando Rosillo, 30, fled the scene but was later caught in nearby woods by police using a helicopter and dogs to tract the suspect.
Rosillo was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, felony hit-and-run and driving while impaired.
Also in the Accord were the driver, Hakeem Ward Holloway, 30, and passenger Barry Tyrone Pace, 31. Both were hospitalized, police said.
Smith, a linebacker, started nine games as a freshman in 1998 and had 94 tackles, the most of any Wolfpack freshman in 11 years. He was sidelined by injuries in 1999 and 2000 and didn’t return for the 2001 season.
Smith’s wife, Karisa, was quoted in the Charlotte Observer as saying she and the couple’s three children were “holding it together, but I don’t think it’s hit them, as well as me.”
The Smiths work for Nationwide insurance in Charlotte, she told the newspaper.
