Columbia woman pleads guilty in case of fiery bridge crash that claimed life of 2-year-old

The Dare County Justice Center in Manteo as it appeared the afternoon Thursday, June 5, 2025. (Photo by Corinne Saunders)

By Corinne Saunders

MANTEO — A guilty plea and sentencing took place Thursday morning at the Dare County Justice Center in Manteo related to the fiery December bridge crash that claimed the life of 2-year-old Barrett Jones, according to the district attorney.

Elizabeth Moran, 29, of Columbia, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor death by motor vehicle, according to District 1 District Attorney Jeffrey “Jeff” Cruden.

The North Carolina State Highway Patrol investigated the Dec. 12, 2024, collision on the Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge connecting Manns Harbor and Roanoke Island, which affected traffic for about three hours.

Speed was not a factor in the collision, and neither was alcohol or other substances causing impairment, as previously reported.

Judge Amber Davis sentenced Moran to 60 days, suspended for 18 months of supervised probation, with 75 hours of community service required within the first 180 days of probation. The sentence also included a $1,000 fine, $600 to reimburse the state for Moran’s blood test and an order to not operate a motor vehicle until licensed by the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV), according to Cruden.

“As a result of the conviction, DMV automatically will revoke the defendant’s license for one year,” Cruden wrote in a Thursday afternoon email.

Brent Jones, 43, of Manns Harbor, was driving his 1991 Ford Mustang east across the bridge around 8 a.m. that day to take his son to daycare when his car became inoperable. He “pulled over as far right as possible and tried to call AAA and 911,” according to facts presented in court Thursday, Cruden said.

A witness traveling in the left lane said that Moran came up behind him and moved over into the right lane in front of an 18-wheeler, passing the witness and continuing for approximately 13 seconds before striking Jones’ car—“clearly disabled and with the emergency flashers on,” according to witness-supplied information Cruden shared.

Moran was driving east across the bridge in a 2023 GMC Acadia, a North Carolina State Highway Patrol spokesperson said on Dec. 17, 2024, when releasing the name of the deceased and details of the crash.

Brent Jones unsuccessfully attempted to break out the driver’s side glass to escape from the car after the collision. Moran came to his door and was able to break the glass, allowing him to escape. Both attempted to rescue Barrett Jones from the burning vehicle, “but the flames quickly forced them back,” Cruden said in his email.

Barrett Jones died at the scene, while Brent Jones was hospitalized at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia, with life-threatening injuries. These were publicly described as burns for the first time on Thursday.

Moran, treated at Outer Banks Health Hospital in Nags Head for burns to her hands, said in a statement to police at the time that she “never saw the car stopped in her lane of travel,” according to Cruden’s email.

Dash cam video obtained from the 18-wheeler showed Moran come up behind the car in the left lane, switch to the right lane and pass the truck that was in the left lane, he said.

Brent Jones, Barrett Jones’ paternal grandmother and an aunt attended the plea, according to Cruden. Sgt. D.C. Pridgen and Trooper J.H. Kidd of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol were also in attendance.

Cruden read a letter written by the aunt to Judge Davis, “as the family members did not feel that they were able to address the court,” he said in his email. “Barrett’s mother, [Christi] Jones, could not emotionally handle hearing the facts again of how her only child died that day, so she did not attend the court hearing.”

Pridgen in December called the collision “a bad situation for everybody involved.”

Following the crash, a tragedy bank account was set up to support Christi and Brent Jones through State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU).

Donations are accepted in person at any SECU branch in North Carolina or by sending checks—with a memo to designate the funds to Christi and Brent Jones—to SECU at P.O. Box 698, Nags Head, North Carolina 27959.

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