Local News

Pedestrian identified in fatal Chapel Hill accident

Barbara Boone Sims, 38, was trying to cross Weaver Dairy Road at Perkins Drive when she was hit by a pickup truck Saturday night.

Posted Updated
Barbara Sims
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Chapel Hill police on Monday identified the victim of a fatal pedestrian accident near the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a homeless woman who stayed in the area.

Barbara Boone Sims, 38, was trying to cross Weaver Dairy Road at Perkins Drive around 8:45 p.m., when a pickup truck hit her, police said. She died at the scene.

Sims is the second pedestrian killed in Chapel Hill in the past week. Lisa Carolyn Moran, 20, of Renfrewshir, Scotland, was jogging through the campus late Thursday morning when a transit bus struck her.

Sims was featured in a Jan. 14, 2008, article in The Daily Tar Heel, UNC's student newspaper. The article, about a homeless shelter opening in the area, said Sims was married to a man identified only as "Taz."

Investigators have not filed any charges but said Monday the investigation is ongoing. Police are still asking that any witnesses to the crash call the Chapel Hill Police Department at 919-968-2760 or send an e-mail to Lt. Chuck Quinlan at cquinlan@townofchapelhill.org.

One witness told WRAL that Sims was wearing dark clothing and that the pickup's driver said he did not see Sims trying to cross.

Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.