AHOSKIE – A local man, one day shy of celebrating his 21st birthday, died in a single vehicle accident near here early Tuesday morning.

The wreck also had the potential of causing additional injuries as the vehicle, after overturning in a yard, struck and partially entered a residence on the Ahoskie-Cofield Road.

North Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper J.S. Archer reported that 20-year-old Keilah Tyquan Smallwood of Ahoskie was operating a 2010 Honda Accord northbound on the Ahoskie-Cofield Road, near its intersection with Godwin Town Road, shortly past 3 a.m. Tuesday.

Archer’s accident report showed that the vehicle ran off the right side of the road where it struck a mailbox and a ditch bank. From there the vehicle continued to travel across the yard of a residence at 410 Ahoskie-Cofield Road before overturning and crashing into a double-wide mobile home.

“The vehicle did not completely enter the home; I would say about 75 percent of the vehicle was inside the home,” Archer said.

The Trooper stated that the home was occupied by two adults and three children. None were injured.

“They (residents) were very fortunate,” Archer said. “The vehicle struck and entered the home where a bedroom was located. I was informed that bedroom is used by one or more of the children. Fortunately, no one was in that bedroom on Tuesday morning. The three children were all in the den area of the home where they had fell asleep while watching TV.”

Archer added that exceeding the posted speed limit (45 mph) was a contributing factor in the accident. He also noted that Smallwood may have been using a mobile phone just prior to the mishap.

“Distracted driving may also be a cause of this accident. We learned that Mr. Smallwood had posted a message on his Facebook page very close to the time of the accident,” Archer said.

The fatality was the 14th of the year within the Highway Patrol’s Troop A / District 2 area (Hertford, Bertie and Gates counties). Four of those fatalities have occurred in Hertford County.