Pending Charges In Crash That Claimed Two SMHS Students

A one car crash that claimed the lives of two Smoky Mountain High School students and seriously injured another remains under investigation. The wreck happened on May 31 near the Catamount Gap section of N.C. 107, near WCU, when police say the driver, SMHS gradute Oscar Munoz-Perez, 19, of Cullowhee, allegedly lost control and skidded down an embankment, before the vehicle, which reportedly was speeding, overturned while in mid-air and slammed into a tree. Perez, who survived the accident, was trapped in the car overnight until a passerby located it sometime early the next morning. His two friends, who were riding with him, were found dead inside the vehicle Perez had been trapped in for hours. Authorities said, charges are pending.