Winston-Salem State University is mourning the death of another of its students, the third to have died this school year.
On Friday, Thea-Simone McDuffie, a sophomore justice studies major from Charlotte, was killed when the car she was driving plummeted nearly 50 feet off the U.S. 52 bridge over Old U.S. 64 in Davidson County.
McDuffie's fiancé, Shavalos Jameson, also of Charlotte, traveled to WSSU each weekend to pick her up and take her home.
The two had been dating for five years. Jameson also was killed in the accident.
In an email send Monday to students and staff, Trae T. Cotton, vice chancellor for student affairs at WSSU, said McDuffie also was a member of the school's ROTC.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family and her friends," Cotton said.
A second passenger in the car, Trevon Rutherford, 16, was taken to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. A spokeswoman for the hospital could find no listing for Rutherford, Jameson's stepbrother, on Monday night.
Rutherford's and Jameson's sister, Brittany Enoch, told WSOC-TV in Charlotte over the weekend that Rutherford had suffered numerous broken bones in the crash, including broken legs and a broken arm.
McDuffie's death is the third of a WSSU student since the school year began. In September, Deena Wilson, 21, a junior exercise-science major from Fayetteville, was found unconscious in her dorm room by her roommate. No foul play was involved in her death. An autopsy determined she died from an infection, Nancy Young, a university spokeswoman, said.
Two months later, Jacinta Fisher, 19, a freshman biology major from Jones County, was killed in an automobile accident during Thanksgiving break. The car Fisher was riding in was rear-ended by a speeding car on U.S. 17 in Onslow County.
A memorial service for McDuffie will be held on campus at a later date, Young said.
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