HOBBSVILLE – A Chowan County couple, on their way home from work in Virginia, tragically lost their lives near here Tuesday in a two-vehicle traffic accident.

Julian Robert Hendrix, 63, and 56-year-old Karen Reeves, both of Cannons Ferry Road, Tyner, were killed after the vehicle Hendrix was operating struck an 18-wheeler.

The accident occurred at 6:15 p.m. on NC 32, north of Grant’s Texaco in Gates County.

According to a report filed by North Carolina State Highway Patrol Trooper G.P. Bowman, a 2007 Kenworth tractor-trailer, driven by Michael Odom of Hobbsville, had stopped in the roadway and was in the process of backing into the driveway of his residence. The truck is owned by C.A. Perry & Son Transit Company.

“As Mr. Odom is backing-up, he notices a car, heading south on NC 32, about a quarter-mile away,” said Sgt. Mike Warren of the NCHP’s Troop A, District II office in Ahoskie. “The witnesses of the accident that we spoke with said the car never slowed to avoid impacting the truck. There were no braking marks, tire marks, on the roadway, indicating that the driver did not attempt to dramatically decrease his speed.”

Bowman’s report showed that the car, a 2000 Nissan Maxima owned by Reeves, struck the 18-wheeler slightly rear of the cab.

Warren said upon his arrival at the accident scene, CPR was being administered to Reeves. She was transported by Gates County Rescue to Chowan County Hospital in Edenton where she succumbed due to the injuries sustained in the crash.

“Mr. Hendrix was trapped inside the car, but was conscious and alert to the point to give me his name,” Warren said. “Nightingale (the emergency transport helicopter based at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital) was summoned. Rescue crews were able to free Mr. Hendrix from the wreckage, but his medical condition began to deteriorate. Our local EMT’s, along with the Nightingale crew once they landed at the scene, attempted to revive him to no avail.”

No charges were filed in the accident.

According to information from a co-worker of the two victims, they were employed at BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair. Hendrix had worked in the welding shop, first joining the company in 1978. Reeves, hired in 2006, was employed in the pipe shop.

The accident increased the death toll to eight on highways in the local NCHP district (Bertie, Gates and Hertford counties). It also marked the third consecutive double fatality wreck since June.