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SUNBURY – A two-vehicle crash near here Thursday afternoon claimed the life of an Outer Banks woman, which led to charges against a Pasquotank County man.

Kathy Darden, 63 of Kill Devil Hills was killed when the vehicle in which she was a passenger was broadsided by a car after the driver allegedly ran through a stop sign.

North Carolina State Highway Patrol Trooper J.G. Williams charged 20-year-old Dontea Allen of Elizabeth City with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle, operating a vehicle without a valid driver’s license, and failure to stop at a duly erected stop sign.

In his report, Williams said the accident occurred just after 3:30 pm, approximately six miles east of Sunbury on US 158. There, Williams said a 2012 Chevrolet SUV, operated by 60-year-old Robin Powell, was traveling west on US 158. Darden was a front seat passenger in the Powell vehicle. There were also three minor children (ages 5, 10, and 12) as passengers.

Meanwhile, Allen was operating a 2004 Cadillac passenger car that was traveling south on Folly Road. Williams said that Allen failed to stop his vehicle at the stop sign at the US 158 intersection.

After impact, Powell’s vehicle traveled off the roadway to the right, struck a ditch, overturned, and came to rest after impacting a tree.

Allen’s vehicle continued through the intersection, coming to a controlled stop on Acorn Hill Road.

Williams said Powell was transported to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The three children were transported to Sentara Albemarle Hospital in Elizabeth City where all were treated and released.

Allen refused treatment on the scene after being checked by EMTs, according to Williams.

The fatality was the ninth of the year in the Highway Patrol’s Troop A / District II area, which covers Bertie, Gates, and Hertford counties. Four of those fatalities have occurred in Gates County.