• E-Mail
• Print
• Larger
• Smaller

Published: Wednesday, Jul. 25, 2012 / Updated: Wednesday, Jul. 25, 2012 07:02 PM

2 York County residents die after separate crashes

Two York County residents died after separate highway accidents Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning, authorities said.

Clarissa Disbrow, 18, of Clover, died and three others were injured Tuesday morning when a 1996 Infiniti struck a tree and overturned just after 1:30 a.m., said Lance Cpl. Judd Jones of the S.C. Highway Patrol. All four were ejected from the car; none was wearing a seat belt.

A preliminary investigation shows that the driver, James Rose, 19, of York, was traveling north on S.C. 49 when he swerved onto the right side of the road and struck a tree.

Piedmont EMS, the Bethel Volunteer Fire Department and the Clover Rescue Squad responded, said Ralph Merchant, operations manager for York County public safety and communications.

Paramedics took Rose and another passenger, Kristen Wall, 18, of Clover to Piedmont Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries, Jones said. Dustin Campbell, 16, of York, was flown to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte with serious injuries.

Disbrow also was flown to Carolinas Medical Center, where she was later pronounced dead.

Hours after her death, friends remembered Disbrow, a Clover High School graduate, as a "fun-loving person" and "really outgoing. "

Charly Duncan, 16, said she met Disbrow through Wall, who remains hospitalized at PMC. Disbrow would often give Duncan normal "teenage girl" advice, she said.

She also liked fishing and "was really good with grades," Duncan said.

Her death has devastated Wall, friends say.

"Kristie was her best friend," Duncan said.

Since the accident, Duncan, Ali Eubanks and another friend have spent much of their time with Wall in the hospital.

Eubanks, 17, said she dropped everything, picked up Duncan and rushed to the hospital when she found out about the crash.

When she entered the emergency room and saw Wall in a hospital bed, "all reality set in."

So did memories. Eubanks was close friends with Hunter Holt, a 13-year-old Clover Junior High School student killed in a 2009 fatal accident on N.C. 49 that also claimed the lives of Winthrop University professor Cynthia Furr and her 2-year-old daughter, McAllister.

"We grew up together," Eubanks said of Holt.

Eubanks knew Disbrow through their mutual friend, Wall. Eubanks and Disbrow met recently on prom night.

"That prom night was a real fun night," Eubanks said. "She was just a fun-loving person always with a smile on her face."

Disbrow's death has left Eubanks reeling.

"...We shouldn't be (mourning) the death of a friend" while another one is in the hospital, she said. "It's just too much for Clover to handle anymore."

York woman dies in Monday crash

On Monday afternoon, Debra Watts, 44, of 2632 Black Highway in York, died when her car ran off the left side of the road, hit a tree and went into an embankment off S.C. 63 in York.

Watts was wearing a seat belt, said Jones of the Highway Patrol.

Watts was taken to Piedmont Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, said York County Coroner Sabrina Gast.