Onslow County, NC (October 30, 2026) - Kristina Rowe, 30, of Pink Hill, died at the scene of a single-vehicle crash on A.I. Taylor Road in Onslow County that also injured the driver and a two-year-old passenger, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.

The crash happened around 8:25 p.m. Friday. Troopers said Austin Simpson, 28, of Hubert, was driving north at a high rate of speed when the vehicle left the road, hit a culvert and then struck a tree. The vehicle caught fire after the impacts.

Rowe was riding in the front passenger seat and became trapped inside the vehicle. The two-year-old, who was restrained in a rear-seat car seat, was also trapped before being rescued. The child was airlifted to Chapel Hill for burn treatment.

Simpson escaped from the vehicle and was taken to Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune with burns and other injuries, according to the Highway Patrol.

A Passenger’s Death in a Single-Vehicle Crash

The A.I. Taylor Road crash involved one vehicle, but a second vehicle is not required for a possible wrongful-death claim. A car accident injury attorney assessing a passenger’s death can examine the conduct of the driver of that same vehicle. A qualifying claim requires another person’s negligent or otherwise wrongful conduct to have caused the death under circumstances that would have supported a claim had the passenger lived. The reported speed and sequence of impacts are relevant to that assessment, but do not by themselves establish civil liability.

In North Carolina, the deceased person’s personal representative or collector brings a qualifying wrongful-death action. Being a relative or handling practical matters after the death does not, by itself, establish that authority.

Help After a Fatal Single-Vehicle Crash

After losing someone who was a passenger, you may have questions about legal options even when no other vehicle was involved. Call 1-704-714-1450 for help understanding whether a wrongful-death claim may be available and who would have authority to bring it.