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Troopers: Texting may have played role in student's deadly crash

UNION COUNTY, N.C. — The family of a Union County high school senior is warning other teen drivers after she was killed in a car crash a week before graduation.

Troopers said Sami Windham, 17, was speeding and texting her boyfriend when she lost control of her Jeep Cherokee on Poplin Road in Unionville Sunday night.

"She was actually thanking him for the dinner that she just left with him," Trooper John Burgin said.

Investigators said Windham was driving an estimated 60 mph when she veered off the roadway, hit a culvert and overturned.

Windham, who was not wearing a seat belt, was partially ejected and died on scene, according to troopers.

Monday, friends and family gathered at the accident scene to lay flowers.

"She was a great girl. She was always smiling. She was always the person to go to if you ever needed somebody to talk to," said friend Lynsey Pope.

Windham's uncle said he wants other teen drivers to learn from the tragedy.

"Wear your seat belt and slow down. Nothing's that important," Steve Windham said.

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