| | RALEIGH, N.C. -- The past year has been a series of tragic headlines in North Carolina sports.
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| Phills |
Charlotte Hornets guard Bobby Phills was killed Wednesday when
his speeding Porsche collided with a car near the Charlotte
Coliseum, where Phills had just finished a game-day practice.
Three months ago, Hornets guard Eldridge Recasner was left with a broken shoulder and collapsed lung in another traffic accident. Teammate Derrick Coleman was charged with drunken driving in the crash. Recasner remains sidelined.
Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Steve Chiasson died in May when his pickup truck overturned while driving home drunk hours after the team's 1998-99 season ended. Chiasson's blood-alcohol level was more than three times North Carolina's legal limit.
Hall of Fame pitcher Jim "Catfish" Hunter died in September at his Hertford home after a yearlong battle with Lou Gehrig's disease.
In November, the pregnant girlfriend of Carolina Panthers receiver Rae Carruth was shot on a Charlotte street. Cherica Adams died of her wounds on Dec. 14, after giving birth to a premature
boy that Carruth fathered.
Carruth and three acquaintances were charged with murder
conspiracy and intent to kill an unborn child. Prosecutors say they
will seek the death penalty.
Carruth is the first active NFL player to be charged with
murder.
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