When Brandi Matlock said goodbye to her mother, 78-year-old Jerolyn Day Wilson, on Wednesday, she never imagined it would be the last time.
“She was at my house around 2 p.m.,” she said, adding that Wilson was heading back to her home in Burlington.
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It wasn’t until state troopers arrived at Matlock’s home at 11 p.m. that she learned her mother had been killed in a 53-car pile-up caused by slick roads Wednesday in Hillsborough.
Matlock said she first learned of the crash from WRAL News, but at that point, she didn’t realize her mother was involved.
“I thought she was stuck sitting behind the accident, not being part of it, but just part of the traffic pattern,” she said. “As time went on and I wasn’t able to get a hold of her, I did start to question if maybe she was lost or had taken a different route.”
Wilson’s car had come to a stop on the Interstate 40/85 merger in Hillsborough after multiple vehicles crashed in front of her around 3 p.m. While she waited, a tractor-trailer slammed into her car from behind, killing her.
Matlock said she was in denial when she first heard the tragic news.
“Hearing that someone else caused it is a harder pill to swallow,” Matlock said.
The road was closed for nearly nine hours as authorities investigated the crash and cleared the highway. This collision was one of more than 1,000 caused by slick road conditions during Wednesday’s winter storm across North Carolina. Authorities advised drivers to avoid unnecessary travel and slow down due to the dangerous conditions.
Matlock’s cousin, Dwaynia Wilson, shared Matlock’s shock and frustration.
“It sounds like something that could have been prevented,” Dewaynia said. “That’s upsetting even more than losing her.”
State troopers charged the tractor-trailer driver, 44-year-old William Crowell Kellam of Spartanburg, South Carolina, with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and exceeding a safe speed for conditions. He was released with a promise to appear in court.
Dewaynia Wilson said learning that it was a truck driver who caused her aunt’s death added to her pain.
“They have a different level of expertise that they’re supposed to consider when they’re driving, especially [with regard to] others, so that is not OK at all,” she said.
Jerolyn Wilson was a mother of two and grandmother to a 3-year-old and an 13-year-old. Her family described her as quiet, sweet, and fiercely devoted to her children and grandchildren. She was active in her community, passionate about politics, and loved spending time shopping or with her grandkids. Wilson graduated from North Carolina Central University, moved to New York to work in banking, and later returned to North Carolina, where she worked for General Electric for many years.
“What I loved most about my mom is she taught me to stand on my own two feet,” Matlock said. “She left me with the confidence that I can get through things … and I can be an amazing wife and mom because of her.”
Dewaynia Wilson hopes her aunt will be remembered for the joy she brought others.
“I just hope that people smile when they think about Miss Jerolyn, because that’s what she does,” Dewaynia said. “When I think about her and how sweet and loving and kind she was, and how much she loved her children, that’s what I want people to remember.”
“I don’t know what justice looks like for that, but I hope justice is served,” she added.