HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — A father is asking for prayers after his fiancé was killed and 3-year-old daughter critically injured in a crash in Huntersville.
First responders were called to Sam Furr and Westmoreland roads Thursday morning.
IMAGES: Woman killed in Huntersville crash
Family confirmed Dana Knox, 40, and her daughter Avery, 3, were involved in the multi-vehicle crash.
Knox was pronounced dead at the scene. Avery suffered several broken bones and head trauma and the little girl was transported to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, where she remained Thursday night.
Knox and her daughter were less than a mile from their home when the crash happened. Her fiancé, who is also Avery’s father, said Knox was taking their daughter to day care.
Police haven’t released details of the crash but witnesses said a truck rear-ended Knox’s car while she was stopped on Sam Furr Road, likely waiting to turn onto Westmoreland Road. They claim the impact sent the mother and daughter into the path of an oncoming van.
Carroll Mizelle was Knox’s high school math teacher years ago. Now he lives on the same street as their family.
“It’s just a tragedy,” he said. “Young person like that and a mother.”
Knox also leaves behind a 12-year-old son.
A cargo van and a pickup truck were also involved in the wreck, officials said.
The drivers of the cargo van and pickup truck were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.
Police have not yet said what caused the crash.
"At this point we are still trying to determine what happened right there. There's physical evidence, there are eyewitnesses, have to get through all that before we can make a determination," said Huntersville Police Chief Cleveland Spruill Sr.
Sam Furr Road was blocked while police investigated the crash. Crews reopened the road around 11:40 a.m.
Minutes before the crash on Sam Furr Road, authorities had to close a portion of another busy Huntersville road after another serious crash.
PHOTOS: Serious crash closes Beatties Ford Road in Huntersville
Rescue crews were called to Beatties Ford Road near McCoy Road around 6:30 a.m. after a car ran off the road.
Channel 9 saw several people loaded onto stretchers and taken away in ambulances, but officials said everyone was expected to survive.
The crash was causing major backups near Long Creek Elementary School and Hopewell High School.
The road was reopened just before 8 a.m.
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