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Boy, 12, on new meds hit, killed by car on I-77 while sleepwalking, relatives say

IREDELL COUNTY, N.C. — A 12-year-old was hit and killed while sleepwalking on Interstate 77 in the middle of the night.

Troopers said the young boy, Jessey Raffaldt, was hit just before 5 a.m. Sunday near the exit for Statesville.

The boy was staying with his parents at the Best Western when he drove off in a car onto I-77, where he abandoned the vehicle and started walking.

“It is so sad. I feel for the family. I really feel for that driver,” Statesville resident Butch Campbell said.

Tina Wicks was working nearby when officials rushed to the Best Western off exit 49.

“We were all wondering what was going on,” Wicks said.

“The situation leading up to it is a little strange, (a) little odd. He was staying at a hotel with his parents, (and) left the hotel in the early morning on Sunday,” North Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper Ray Pierce said.

Troopers told Channel 9 hotel surveillance video captured Jessey as he got into a car and drove off. The keys had been left in the console.

He drove about two miles south of Statesville on I-77, then abandoned the car on the side of the road.

Witnesses said several cars swerved to miss him before he was eventually struck.

Investigators told Eyewitness News that the boy was trying to return to the hotel, walking in the center northbound lane of the interstate when he was hit and killed in the middle of the highway.

Troopers said the boy's family realized he was missing when they woke up Sunday morning, and authorities delivered the heartbreaking news.

"It's just really, really sad, you know,” Wicks said.

Officials said the family is from Kannapolis, but had decided to stay at the hotel because they were too tired to drive home.

Family members told Channel 9 that boy had special needs, and new medication may have caused him to sleepwalk.

"I feel for the parents right now. Yeah, it's sad. It's sad," Wicks said.

Troopers said no charges will be filed against the driver, and their investigation into the crash is closed, but there are still a lot of questions as to how this incident started.

Channel 9 has reached out to Statesville police to see where its investigation stands, but has not heard back yet.

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