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A former N.C. State University football player was killed in an early Sunday wreck when a speeding Camaro slammed into the car in which he was riding, according to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police report.
Edrick Smith, 29, was in the backseat of a Honda Accord, which police said was split in two from the force of the collision just before 1 a.m. at the intersection of North Tryon Street and Salome Church Road.
Police say the driver of the Camaro ran from the scene and was later tracked down by a police helicopter and officers with dogs searching nearby woods.
Hugo Fernando Rosillo, 30, was taken to the hospital after he was arrested. He is charged with second-degree murder, felony hit-and-run and driving while impaired.
Also in the Accord were the driver, Hakeem Ward Holloway, 30, and passenger Barry Tyrone Pace, 31. Both were hospitalized, police said.
The crash is under investigation by CMPD's accident reconstruction unit.
Smith's wife, Karisa, said Sunday that she and the couple's three children were “holding it together, but I don't think it's hit them, as well as me.”
She called the driver of the Camaro “cowardly” for leaving the scene.
The Smiths work for Nationwide insurance in Charlotte, she said.
Originally from North Fork, Ala., Smith set the NCSU record in 1998 for tackles by a true freshman. He was on track to be a national defensive standout and an NFL prospect when he was sidelined by an injury.
Smith started nine games as a freshman in 1998, and his 94 tackles that season were the most any Wolfpack freshman had made in 11 years. He entered the 1999 season as a candidate for the Butkus Award, given annually to the best linebacker in the nation.
In the season opener against Texas, he tore the medial collateral and anterior cruciate ligaments in his knee. He was optimistic he could make an impact again for the Wolfpack.
But after returning for the 2000 season, he suffered a torn labrum in his shoulder that limited his contributions.
He didn't play football in 2001, and then-coach Chuck Amato said he wasn't sure Smith was ever the same after the injury. Staff writer Ken Tysiac contributed.
