Driver charged after two Camp Lejeune marines killed in military vehicle rollover crash

Two marines were killed in a crash in a military vehicle coming from Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville on Wednesday afternoon, according to officials.

Louis Barrera, 19, from Springfield, Tennessee, was charged with one count of exceeding a safe speed and two counts of misdemeanor death by motor vehicle.

State Highway Patrol Sgt. Devin Rich said while the 7-ton military was making a right turn, it lost control, overturned and ejected the marines that were in the back of the truck into the road.

One of the marines was hit by another military vehicle that couldn't stop in time after the marines were ejected. The two marines died at the scene, officials said, and their names were being withheld for 24 hours. The two marines killed were part of the 2nd marine Logistics Group, based in Camp Lejeune.

Fifteen marines were transported to local hospitals by ground and two other marines were airlifted at around 1 p.m. after the crash on N.C. Highway 210 and U.S. Route 17.

Diego Feliciano-Gutierrez, a former marine who lives in Jacksonville, said that marines sit inside benches without seatbelts on the 7-ton vehicles.

He said he couldn't imagine how terrifying it would be to be inside a military vehicle during a rollover crash.

State Highway Patrol said on Wednesday that they were continuing to investigate the crash.