Infant dies in car accident

An infant died last Sunday night as the result of injuries received in an accident which happened around 7:35 p.m. last Saturday on N.C. 18 less than a mile north of Sparta, according to a report filed by Trooper S.L. Roten of the N.C. Highway Patrol.

Ethan Rutherford, two-months-old, of Post Office Road, Piney Creek, died Sunday at 6 p.m. at N.C. Baptist Hospital after being transferred there from Alleghany Memorial on Saturday.

Also taken to Alleghany Memorial by Alleghany EMS were the infant's mother, father and brother, Darlene Johnson Rutherford, 35, James Rutherford, 35, and Nathan Rutherford, 9. Ms. Rutherford was treated and released at AMH and Mr. Rutherford and Nathan Rutherford were transferred to N.C. Baptist, where they were admitted. Mr. Rutherford was taken to intensive care, but has been moved to a regular room, according to a hospital spokesperson. Nathan Rutherford is also in a room at N.C. Baptist, the spokesperson said.

Claudia Beasley Wolford, 59, of Woodlawn, Va. was traveling south in her 1997 Chevrolet when she slowed for deer that were in the roadway, according to Roten's report. Wolford's vehicle was hit in the rear by a 1990 Ford, driven by Darlene Rutherford of Piney Creek, mother of the fatally injured infant, according to the report.

The car was badly damaged after it struck one car in the rear and was struck by another oncoming pickup truck.