By Shavonne Potts
shavonne.potts@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — N.C. State Highway Patrol troopers have identified the drivers in a Nov. 22 Interstate 85 collision that killed one and hospitalized another.

According to Trooper S.L. Herrin, Concord resident Quintez Garlin, 27, was traveling in a Chrysler Sebring that stopped on Interstate 85 in southern Rowan County. Bria Lewis, also 27, of Charlotte, was driving a Honda Accord when she collided into the rear of the Sebring. The crash occurred near Old Beatty Ford Road.

Both vehicles caught fire. Garlin died at the scene.

A nurse on the scene told a trooper that “two men pulled Lewis out of her car just before it blew up and caught fire,” Herrin said.

Lewis was taken to Atrium Health with serious injuries. She had facial injuries and has been unable to speak since the accident. Herrin said they still don’t know why she crashed into the stopped Sebring.

“We don’t suspect impairment on her part. I don’t suspect speed to be a factor,” Herrin said.

He said a witness told him that there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary about the moments leading up to the collision.

Herrin said Lewis’ family would like to know who pulled her from the vehicle to thank them. By the time the trooper arrived at the scene, the two men were gone.