GREENVILLE, NC – (WNCT) November 20, 2010 is a date that Bernadette Carter will never forget. It’s the day her daughter, 20-year-old Victoria Carter was killed in a car crash in Greenville. This year marks the 5th year anniversary of that fateful day. Carter tells us, “around this time of the year the leaves start to change I think about the last time I saw her.”
Investigators said a former ECU student Kamil Arrington was driving a car that was on Greenville Blvd early that morning. It left the road and struck a tree. Victoria and another passenger in the backseat, Briana Gather were killed. Another passenger Taylor King and Arrington survived. All four young women were pledges of ECU’s chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
Arrington pleaded guilty of two counts of misdemeanor death by motor vehicle. Police believe Arrington fell asleep at the time of the crash leading to the deaths of Victoria Carter and Briana Gather. She was ordered to serve one year of supervised probation and perform 100 hours of community service, but Arrington’s legal troubles aren’t over yet.
In her search for more answers, Carter filed a wrongful death civil lawsuit against Arrington, The national chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Inc., the Kappa Sigma chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, and dozens of other defendants associated with the sorority that claims Arrington’s sleep deprivation was the effects of weeks of hazing.
Carter says, “around the holidays Kamil would call and our conversations were always brief and they would always end with please tell me what happened, I just want to know what happened to my child, and she would always say, she didn’t remember and I would say, you might not remember that day, but the day before.”
The week of the accident was hell week, the last week of pledging and a time when activities intensified. the lawsuit claims Arrington, was appointed as the designated driver by sorority leaders and that week she only slept for 6-7 hours that entire week causing her to be exhausted and why she fell asleep behind the wheel.
For now, a trial date has not been set. The Kappa Sigma chapter is suspended from ECU’s campus until 2025. You can read the full lawsuit here.