LUMBERTON — A Lumberton High School cheerleader and daughter of a Robeson County sheriff’s detective was killed in a car accident Tuesday morning.
Kelsie Wilson, 16, was being remembered Wednesday for her smile, determination and ability to make those around her laugh.
“She was funny, she liked to dance and she was always dancing when she wasn’t supposed to be, dancing and making everybody smile,” said Lynn Hinson, a family friend who coached Wilson in cheerleading. “… She had a lot of love in her heart and a lot of love to give.”
Hinson said after Wilson stopped cheerleading, the two remained close and Wilson remained friends with many of the girls on the team. Wilson had two siblings and looked up to her older sister, Haylee, Hinson said. She was the daughter of sheriff’s Detective Tom Wilson.
“She was spunky. She wasn’t one that was going to back down. She was strong willed but also sensitive and funny. She was a little bit of everything,” said Kenan Lundy, Wilson’s longtime gymnastics coach. Lundy remembered Wilson as a sweet little girl over the moon about an egg-less cake her mother had made so that she could celebrate her birthday despite having allergies.
Wilson worked at Bo’s Food Store on Roberts Avenue, and was known by many who would come in to shop and be greeted by a smile.
“She was a sweet girl, everybody loved her and she was full of life. She was one of the sweetest people you’d ever meet. It’s been so sad. We’ve all been hurt by it,” said Toniesha Geathers, who worked with Wilson. Jerry Seals, the manager of the store, remembered her as a dependable person who “got along with everybody.”
The state Highway Patrol, which investigated the accident, had not filed a report as of this morning so details of the accident were not available. Social media posts about the incident say the single-car accident happened early Tuesday morning.
“It was heartbreaking,” Lundy said. “I can’t describe it.”
Social media tributes to Wilson have poured in on Facebook as friends ask others to keep her family in their thoughts.
“I love them dearly and I’m praying for them constantly,” Lundy said.
Ann Sluss, a family friend whose children went to school with Wilson, is collecting photos of the teen for a slide show. Anyone with pictures of Wilson can send them to Sluss on Facebook, via her page Ann Frances Gibson Sluss.
“I wanted to portray Kelsie’s personality,” Sluss said. “She was very outgoing. She had a lot of friends. She had a lot of love to give and she was very much loved and I wanted to show that in a slide show. She was so full of life.”
