2 store clerks arrested, accused of selling alcohol to teen killed in crash

BURKE COUNTY, N.C. — Two store clerks were arrested Thursday for allegedly selling alcohol to a Burke County high school senior who was killed in a car crash on Jan. 24.

Troopers believe 18-year-old Myles Davis lost control of his car near Hildebran and smashed into a power pole just after midnight.

Officials said they suspected Davis, an East Burke High School student, was impaired when they found alcohol near the vehicle.

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Officials said their investigation led them to Davis’ home, where they found three people who were underage unconscious. Alcohol Law Enforcement agents conducted interviews about the events leading up to Davis’ death.

Officials said they found Cody Childress, 37, and Amanda Mullins, 37, deliberately overrode the cash register’s age-verification system at the Run In convenience store on South Center Street in Hildebran. ALE agents used surveillance video to determine the two clerks sold alcohol to Davis, who was intoxicated.

Childress and Mullins were arrested on Thursday and charged with the sale of alcoholic beverages to a person under the age of 21, and the sale of alcoholic beverages to an intoxicated person.

“I feel bad, and I’m sorry. Sorry. I just wish I was more observant,” Childress said.

“It’s sad,” Mullins said. “I’m sorry about him being in that wreck.”

Officials said the teens were sold alcohol at least two times before the deadly crash.

“This has gone on multiple times in this area, where we’ve had alcohol in the hands of a minor in which they’ve had serious bodily injury or death,” ALE Special Agent Meredith Shoah said Thursday.  “We want our store clerks to understand that there are repercussions.”

Troopers believe speed was also a factor in the crash.

The impact of the crash not only split the pole in half but knocked out water to a dozen homes nearby after a fire hydrant was also struck.

“It gave me cold chills. It was torn in half. It was literally cut in half,” said Kimberly Calloway, who lives nearby.

“He hit the pole and the hydrant at an angle sideways, broke them off and then rolled on into the yard over there,” worker Ronnie Franklin said.

At the high school, extra counselors were called in.

Troopers said it was the first fatal crash this year in Burke County.

Students at East Burke High School grieved the death of their classmate.

“He was somebody you could really hang around with, pretty chill,” student Brian Griffin said. “You could get to know him pretty easy.”

“The mood changed, definitely,” student Chase Lowman said. “Your nerves got tore up. My belly actually started hurting”

Students said they plan on making a large banner for Davis’ family, and some of them are going to put Bible verses on it.

“We were just doing our job, man,” Childress said Thursday. “We are just cashiers, man. That’s all it is.”

Childress and Mullins were taken before a Burke County magistrate and each given a $20,000 secured bond. They are due in court May 1.

Cox Media Group