MORGANTON, N.C. (AP) — Authorities say an 81-year-old Burke County woman died hours after a vehicle struck her on Christmas Day as she was getting her newspaper.
North Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper J. Gouge says Betty Causby of Morganton died about 3:30 a.m. Monday at a Charlotte hospital.
Gouge tells local media outlets that a 17-year-old girl ran off the right side of N.C. Highway 181 about 5 p.m. Sunday, hitting Causby in her front yard.
The Morganton teenager told troopers she’d fallen asleep and woke up when her vehicle starting hitting mailboxes. She says she hit Causby when she tried to swerve back onto the road.
The teen was not injured.
Gouge says charges are pending.
