Police say speeding was primary factor in deaths of 3 E.E. Smith students

Excessive speed was the primary factor in the Oct. 8 crash that killed three E.E. Smith High School football players, Fayetteville police said.

Police announced Oct. 15 that a preliminary investigation found speed was the main cause of the wreck that claimed the lives of Jai'Hyon Lamont Elliott , 18, Nicholas Kole Williams , 17, and Trevor Jayshawn Merritt , 17.

The three members of the E.E. Smith Golden Bulls varsity football team were passengers in a 2024 Honda Civic driven by Dymond Monroe, 21, when Civic ran off the road and struck a telephone pole on Rosehill Road in front of Haymount Presbyterian Church.

Monroe, 21, who was critically injured, was flown to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill where she remains in critical condition, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to