AirStar6

BELMONT, N.C. -- Two people were killed in a head-on collision in Gaston County Thursday afternoon, and investigators believe the driver who caused the crash had been drinking.

Ronnie R. Jones, 60, was driving his 1997 Chevy pickup truck northbound on Southpoint Road when he crossed the center line, according to the North Carolina Highway Patrol.

Jones’ truck struck a Ford Focus driven by Ashley Rose Griffin, 18.

Jones was pronounced dead on the scene, and Griffin was transported to Carolinas Medical Center where she was pronounced dead.

A trooper with the Highway Patrol said people who saw Jones earlier in the day confirmed that Jones had been drinking.

Griffin was a student at UNC Wilmington, WECT-TV in Wilmington reports. Both victims lived in the area where the accident occurred, troopers say.