DATE: Sunday, October 5, 1997               TAG: 9710050092

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 

DATELINE: NAGS HEAD                         LENGTH:   32 lines

TEEN-AGER FROM SOUTHERN SHORES DIES AFTER BEING HIT WHILE CROSSING BYPASS

A 14-year-old girl was killed late Friday while trying to cross the U.S. Route 158 bypass with three friends at Jockey's Ridge State Park, police said.

Courtney Marie Burgess of Southern Shores died from injuries after she was hit by a Chevrolet Suburban about 10:40 p.m., Police Chief Charles Cameron said.

Dare County emergency workers, as well as Nags Head fire and volunteer personnel, treated her at the scene before she was taken to the Outer Banks Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

Police said the group had been crossing the highway from east to west in the pedestrian crosswalk. The vehicle was headed south in the left lane with the driver, a 35-year-old Edenton man, and three passengers. No one else was injured.

The accident is under investigation. There have been no charges.

Courtney was in the ninth grade at Manteo High School. She had been a cheerleader at First Flight Middle School for two years and was a member of Kitty Hawk United Methodist Church. She is survived by her mother, Theresa F. Burgess, her father, Reginald E. Burgess Jr., and a sister, Alexandra.

The family is planning a memorial service at Kitty Hawk United Methodist Church at 5 p.m. Monday.

The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Courtney Marie Burgess Scholarship Fund, in care of Kitty Hawk Rotary Club, P.O. Box 717, Kitty Hawk, N.C. 27949. KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT TRAFFIC FATALITY

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