Truck driver charged in wreck that killed teen in Winterville

A truck driver has been charged in a wreck that killed a Pitt County teenager earlier this month, the Winterville Police Department reported Monday.

Police said that Enrique Almonte of Wilmington was charged with misdemeanor death by vehicle and failure to reduce speed in the May 8 crash on N.C. 11 at Central Park Drive that killed Caroline Lupton, 15, a freshman at J.H. Rose High School.

The Pitt County Clerk of Court office said Almonte was charged on Sunday. He is set to appear in court on June 12.

Lupton was one of three people in the car, which police said was a 2004 Toyota Corolla driven by David Giles. The vehicle was rear-ended by Almonte’s 2020 Freightliner commercial box truck near Sam’s Club, in the area of N.C. 11 also called Winterville Parkway.

The police department said the wreck occurred at 4:09 p.m. and that officers, personnel with Winterville Fire/EMS and State Highway Patrol troopers responded.

Lupton and the other two passengers of the Toyota were transported to ECU Health Medical Center by ambulance.

Winterville police said that witness statements, video evidence and forensic vehicle data were presented to the Pitt County District Attorney’s Office, which led to charges being filed. At the time of the wreck Almonte was checked and released pending that investigation by police and the State Highway Patrol.