CHARLOTTE — A man, who was injured in a deadly wreck on Feb. 4, was released from a hospital on Feb. 19 and arrested. Police said Kevin Samkia caused a head-on crash that left another driver dead in east Charlotte, authorities said.
According to police, Samkia was speeding northbound on East W.T. Harris Boulevard around 1:30 a.m. in a 2016 Maserati Ghibli S when he lost control of the car, ran off the road, overcorrected, and then drove through the grassy median into oncoming traffic, colliding head-on with a 2015 Scion FR-S driven by Luis Estuardo Menchu Cocinero.
The collision started a fire and Cocinero did not survive, police said. Family members told Channel 9 he leaves behind a wife and two young daughters.
A GoFundMePage was created to help the family with funeral expenses.
Samkia was arrested on warrants for felony death by motor vehicle, driving while impaired and reckless driving.
#BREAKING: E. WT Harris is CLOSED in a stretch between Grier Rd. and The Plaza due to a deadly crash that happened around 1:30 this morning. @AnthonyWSOC9 is there now gathering more info and will have a live update at 5AM #clt #clttraffic #cltraffic pic.twitter.com/GpMSokNdzZ
— Traffic Team 9 (@TrafficTeam9) February 4, 2021
East W.T. Harris Boulevard was closed for hours between Grier Road and The Plaza because of the crash.
The westbound lanes were reopened just after 6 a.m. and the eastbound lanes were finally reopened shortly before 6:45 a.m.
Check back with wsoctv.com for updates on this story.
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