Jimmy Lee Brooks of Leicester headed out on a regular Thursday afternoon. He never made it home. A wrong-way Tesla on Interstate 26 in Buncombe County changed everything in seconds.
Bradley Lanier of Taylors drove that Tesla. He entered the highway near Exit 37 going west in the eastbound lanes. His car slammed head-on into a Honda SUV. Then it hit the Honda passenger car carrying Jimmy and two others.
Troopers say the crash happened around 2:30 p.m. near mile marker 36.5. All four eastbound lanes shut down for nearly two hours. Jimmy and the other two people in his car went to Mission Hospital with serious injuries. Jimmy did not make it.
The SUV driver had minor injuries. Doctors treated him and sent him home the same day. Lanier also had minor injuries. He left the hospital and went straight to the Buncombe County Detention Center.
Charges against Lanier include driving while impaired, felony death by vehicle, felony serious injury by vehicle, and reckless driving. Bond sits at five million dollars. Those charges are still just allegations for now.
Jimmy’s family and friends lost a man from Leicester who mattered to them. One ordinary drive turned into the last one he would ever take. The other two people from his car remain in serious condition as far as we know.
Folks stuck in the backup that day just wanted to get where they were going. Instead they sat for hours while crews worked the scene. Jimmy Lee Brooks is gone. The case moves forward in the courts.
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