Man indicted in crash that killed toddler, newborn

HAMPSTEAD, NC (WWAY) — A Pender County grand jury has indicted the man charged in a deadly crash that happened in Hampstead earlier this summer.

Dobbs Eddings, pictured with his mother Hadley and father Gentry, died in a crash in Hampstead.

Matthew Deans, 29, was indicted Monday on two counts of involuntary manslaughter, according to a news release from the office of District Attorney Ben David. The charges stem from a crash on U.S. 17 where Deans rear-ended a vehicle that caused a chain-reaction crash that killed Dobbs Eddings. Dobbs’ mother, Hadley Eddings, was pregnant at the time and had an emergency C-section following the crash. A couple of days following the C-section her newborn son, Reed, also died.

Deans is due in court Wednesday morning in Burgaw. The Eddings family will also attend the hearing, the release said.

Hadley Eddings, along with her husband, Gentry, and other family members, were in the area at a wedding. They were in several vehicles returning to the Charlotte area when the crash happened.