THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 28, 1994 TAG: 9412280423
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: FRANKLIN LENGTH: Short : 36 lines
Two men remained hospitalized Tuesday after a Christmas Eve car wreck that killed three people and injured four others.
No charges had been filed Tuesday, but police said alcohol played a role when two cars collided head-on Saturday morning on Virginia 258 about three miles south of Franklin. According to police reports, a Chevrolet Beretta driven by 26-year-old Joseph Louis Harris Jr. crossed the center line and struck a Honda Accord driven by James Benjamin Claude, 18.
The Honda quickly caught fire, according to Trooper Gregory Jackson of state police. Claude and a passenger, Marc Ray Lewis, 21, died at the scene of injuries from the impact and the blaze, Jackson said. Both men were from Franklin.
A passenger in the Chevrolet, Lamar Jerome Gordon, 17, died later at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. Gordon, a New Jersey resident, had been visiting relatives in Hampton Roads.
Gordon's cousin, Ernest Gordon, 28, also was a passenger in the Chevrolet and was taken to Norfolk General, where he was in serious condition Tuesday evening.
Harris, driver of the Chevrolet, was in stable condition at Norfolk General.
Two other passengers in the Honda were treated at Southampton Memorial Hospital and released.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT TRAFFIC FATALITY by CNB