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‘Bittersweet closure’: Man accused of hitting, killing Gaston County court clerk accepts plea

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — Two years after a beloved member of the Gaston County Courthouse staff died in a head-on crash, the suspect accepted a plea deal in the case.

On Monday, Faye Pickelsimer’s husband was in the same court she once worked for as Sebastian Barnette learned his fate.

One of Faye’s co-workers called Monday’s hearing a “bittersweet closure.” She and her colleagues will never see or hear their dear friend again, but the ordeal that claimed her life is almost over.

That fact is mostly true for her husband, whose life was changed during the crash in so many ways.

On Monday, a judge said he wouldn’t move forward with the plea for Barnette without approval from Doug Pickelsimer first. He still has a limp from the crash that killed his wife. He said he is ready to put this legal process behind him.

“Best to be over with,” he said. “I have worried about this for two years.”

Doug and his wife were high school sweethearts and just a month and a half away from their 46th wedding anniversary in April of 2020. The COVID pandemic had just started and the husband and wife, who were in their 60s, were on their way home with groceries for an elderly family member. They were on Old Dallas Highway in Gaston County when then 24-year-old Barnette went into their lane and hit them head-on in a horrific crash.

“It caused the wheels on both vehicles to come up into the air,” said prosecutor Jason Meulemans.

The prosecutor said Barnett’s drug tests revealed he had opioids in his system. He went on to say that Barnette ran from the crash scene and was later caught by search dogs.

On Monday, Clerk of Courts Roxann Rankin sat in the front row during Barnette’s plea hearing. She attended in support of Faye, who was a deputy clerk of the Gaston County Court when she was killed in the crash.

“Certainly a shocking, tragic event here on a Saturday morning,” Rankin said.

It was a deep loss for those used to working cases like this; now they were dealing with loss up close. Rankin said the pain of Faye’s death was palpable at the office.

“Faye was always smiling,” Rankin said. “Always in a good mood. Always willing to help.”

On Monday, the man charged with killing her accepted a plea for 10 and half years in prison. After the hearing, Barnette’s attorney told Doug Picklesimer face-to-face the words his client shared with the judge.

“During our discussion, he did extend condolences and regret for what happened,” Attorney Robert Corbett said.

Barnette will get two years off for the time he waited in jail for his hearing. He was on probation for other felonies when the crash happened and requested those sentences to be served at the same time. The judge said he couldn’t agree to that.

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