DATE: Tuesday, September 2, 1997            TAG: 9709020125

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ADAM BERNSTEIN, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   32 lines

NORFOLK WOMAN DIES IN I-95 CRASH IN S.C.

A 27-year-old Norfolk woman driving to Florida with her family was killed after she fell asleep at the wheel on Interstate 95 in South Carolina, the highway patrol said.

Regina G. Mitchell, 27, of 123 Balview Ave., died from cardiac arrest on Sunday after the 12:13 p.m. single-car accident near Summerton, said the patrolman, Lance Cpl. R.M. Falls Jr.

Mitchell's 5-year-old son, Malcolm, was admitted to the intensive care unit at Charleston's Medical University of South Carolina hospital, Falls said. Her husband, in his mid-20s and identified as Shawn, sustained injuries to his right arm, Falls said.

Another son, identified as C.J. Godrey, 6, was not injured.

The vehicle, going 85 mph in a 65 mph zone, ran off the left side of the highway into the tree-studded, sloping median, Falls said.

Regina Mitchell tried to steady the car, bringing the vehicle back to the road's edge twice before the car returned to the median and flipped on its side, then rolled six times.

Everyone was wearing seatbelts, Falls said.

The car was totaled.

Regina Mitchell was pronounced dead at the scene, Falls said.

Malcolm was taken to nearby East Clarendon Medical Center before being transferred to Charleston, Falls said. Reports on his condition were unavailable late Monday. KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT TRAFFIC FATALITY

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