WINSTON-SALEM, NC -- Winston-Salem Police say one man, Joseph Lamont Abbitt, died and two others were injured in a head on collision on the 4100 block of Carver School Road.
The crash happened just before 9:00 pm. Driver Walter B. Black III told police he was driving south on Carver School Road when he saw another vehicle driving the wrong way in his lane. Police say that vehicle, a 1999 Volvo, was driven by Joseph Lamont Abbitt. Black told police he tried to swerve, but couldn't avoid the collision.
Abbitt died at the scene. Emergency crews took Black, and the two other occupants of his vehicle, to NC Baptist Hospital with minor injuries.
WFMY News 2 has confirmed the victim is the same Joseph Abbitt who was released from prison in 2009 after serving 14 years in prison for a rape he did not commit.
Police say they don't know if speed and/or alcohol are factors in the crash at this stage of the investigation.
The Winston-Salem Police Department Traffic Enforcement Unit is still investigating.
RELATED:
October 2010: Forsyth County DA: Joseph Abbitt Case Under Review
October 2010: DNA Clears Joseph Abbitt
July 2010: DNA Samples form Bedding Tested
October 2010: Bedding in Abbitt Case Tested Previously by SBI
October 2010: Man Freed from Rape is Suspect Again
September 2014: DNA Evidence, State Lab Backlog
