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Raleigh, Wake County

Raleigh: Driver pleads guilty in crash that killed NC State professor Natalia Duque-Wilckens

WRAL, citing court documents, said Jack Ethridge, 19, pleaded guilty Tuesday to reckless driving to endanger. The News & Observer named him Jack Etheridge and used different charge wording. The sentence is not confirmed here.

ConfirmedThe main facts are confirmed by official or first-hand sources.

By Triangle Local Newsroom · Published

Downtown Raleigh buildings under a blue sky

File photo: James Willamor (CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons.

What we know

Confirmed

  • WRAL, citing court documents, reported Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, that Jack Ethridge, 19, pleaded guilty to reckless driving to endanger in the death of Natalia Duque-Wilckens.Confirmed by Court documents, as reported by WRAL, Oct. 20, 2026
  • The News & Observer, in a separate Tuesday account, also reported a guilty plea that day by Jack "J.T." Etheridge, whom it listed as 20, and described the plea as reckless and careless driving in Duque-Wilckens's November 2025 death.Confirmed by The News & Observer, Oct. 20, 2026
  • G.S. 20-140 names the offense reckless driving. One subsection covers driving carelessly and heedlessly. Another covers driving without due caution in a manner that endangers, or is likely to endanger, a person or property. Both are Class 2 misdemeanors unless a later injury subsection applies.Confirmed by N.C. General Statute 20-140
  • After the Nov. 11, 2025, crash, CBS 17 and The News & Observer, citing Raleigh police and court records, identified the driver as Jack Thomas Etheridge, then 19, of Waxhaw, and said he was cited for misdemeanor death by vehicle.Confirmed by CBS 17 and The News & Observer, November 2025, citing Raleigh police and court records
  • Those 2025 accounts placed the crash at Pogue Street and Clark Avenue in Raleigh, about a half mile from N.C. State. CBS 17, citing Raleigh police, gave the time as about 6:11 p.m. The News & Observer, citing court documents, said a 2018 Ford pickup struck a pedestrian shortly after 6 p.m.Confirmed by CBS 17, citing Raleigh police; The News & Observer, citing court documents, November 2025
  • CBS 17, citing Raleigh police, said officers found Duque-Wilckens, 41, in the road with serious injuries and that she later died at a hospital. The News & Observer reported the same age, the hospital death, and that she was found in the road with serious injuries.Confirmed by CBS 17, citing Raleigh police; The News & Observer, November 2025
  • CBS 17, citing Raleigh police, said Etheridge stayed at the scene and was not injured. The News & Observer's Tuesday story also said he stayed and called 911, attributing that to his defense attorney and the prosecutor.Confirmed by CBS 17, November 2025, citing Raleigh police; The News & Observer, Oct. 20, 2026
  • N.C. State confirmed in 2025 that Duque-Wilckens was an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. WRAL's Tuesday story repeated that department title.Confirmed by N.C. State University statement, as reported by CBS 17, November 2025; WRAL, Oct. 20, 2026
  • On March 17, 2026, Raleigh City Council adopted Ordinance 2026-857 adding all-way stops at Clark Avenue and Pogue Street, Clark Avenue and Horne Street, and Clark Avenue and Chamberlain Street, effective seven days later. The city's traffic schedule lists those three as effective March 24, 2026.Confirmed by Raleigh City Council minutes, March 17, 2026; City of Raleigh Traffic Schedule No. 2
  • G.S. 20-141.4 defines misdemeanor death by vehicle as unintentionally causing a death while violating a traffic law other than impaired driving. That is the citation described in the 2025 accounts. Tuesday's reports describe a reckless-driving plea instead.Confirmed by N.C. General Statute 20-141.4; WRAL and The News & Observer, Oct. 20, 2026

Still unknown

  • The exact judgment and sentence. The News & Observer reported one year of unsupervised probation and 35 hours of community service. WRAL's Tuesday story we read did not include a sentence
  • How to reconcile Ethridge / Etheridge and 19 / 20 until a court record we can read states the current spelling and age
  • Which subsection of G.S. 20-140 was entered on the judgment
  • Whether the original misdemeanor death-by-vehicle citation was dismissed as part of the plea

What this means for you

Instructions from Wake County courts; Raleigh Police Department

This site is not a court or the police. For the case file, use Wake County court records. This site is not an emergency service. If anyone is in danger, call 911.

What happened

In Raleigh, the driver in the Nov. 11, 2025, crash that killed N.C. State assistant professor Natalia Duque-Wilckens pleaded guilty Tuesday, according to court documents cited by WRAL and a separate account in The News & Observer.

WRAL, citing those documents, identified the driver as Jack Ethridge, 19, and said the plea was to reckless driving to endanger. The News & Observer identified him as Jack "J.T." Etheridge, 20, and described the offense as reckless and careless driving. Those names and ages are not the same. After the crash, CBS 17 and The News & Observer, citing Raleigh police and court records, named Jack Thomas Etheridge, then 19, of Waxhaw.

A plea is a court action. It is not a later finding after a full trial. The News & Observer reported a sentence. WRAL's Tuesday story we read did not. No term is published here until a second independent account or a judgment in hand states it.

What the 2025 accounts said

CBS 17, citing Raleigh police in 2025, said the crash was about 6:11 p.m. at the Pogue-Clark crossing, about a half mile from campus. Officers found Duque-Wilckens, 41, in the road with serious injuries. She later died at a hospital. The News & Observer, citing court documents, described a 2018 Ford pickup striking a pedestrian there shortly after 6 p.m. and said she did not survive.

That 2025 CBS 17 report said Etheridge stayed and was not injured. He was cited for misdemeanor death by vehicle. G.S. 20-141.4 defines that offense as an unintentional death caused while violating a traffic law other than impaired driving.

N.C. State confirmed then that Duque-Wilckens taught in the Department of Biological Sciences.

The statute named Tuesday

G.S. 20-140 calls the offense reckless driving. One part covers driving carelessly and heedlessly. Another covers driving without due caution in a way that endangers, or is likely to endanger, a person or property. Both are Class 2 misdemeanors unless a later injury subsection applies. A copy of the judgment is not in hand, so the subsection entered Tuesday is not named here.

The crossing

On March 17, 2026, City Council adopted Ordinance 2026-857 adding all-way stops at Clark Avenue and Pogue Street, Clark Avenue and Horne Street, and Clark Avenue and Chamberlain Street. The city's traffic schedule lists those three as effective March 24, 2026.

What we don't know yet

The two Tuesday stories disagree on the driver's spelling, his age and the exact reckless-driving wording. They also do not match on whether a sentence was announced.

Photos

Text-only. No university or newspaper photos are used here.

Why it matters

A pedestrian was killed at a campus-area crossing. Tuesday's plea is a new court step. The driver's name, age, charge wording and sentence still do not match across the accounts we could read.

Updates

  1. Oct 20, 2026, 8:05 PM

    WRAL, citing court documents, and The News & Observer both report a Tuesday guilty plea in Duque-Wilckens's death. The two accounts disagree on the driver's spelling, age and the exact reckless-driving wording. The sentence is not confirmed here.

  2. Nov 11, 2025, 12:00 AM

    Raleigh police respond to a pedestrian crash at Pogue Street and Clark Avenue. Duque-Wilckens, 41, later dies at a hospital, CBS 17 and The News & Observer reported.

Sources

  1. Driver involved in NC State professor's death agrees to plea deal (WRAL, Oct. 20, 2026: court documents, Jack Ethridge, 19, pleaded guilty to reckless driving to endanger; Natalia Duque-Wilckens killed in November crossing Clark Avenue near Pogue Street; assistant professor, Department of Biological Sciences; three four-way stops later approved on Clark Avenue; fiancé Trevor Huffman fundraising for science students)

    Published by WRAL · Checked Oct 20, 2026, 8:05 PM

  2. Tearful driver sentenced in N.C. State professor's crosswalk death (The News & Observer, Oct. 20, 2026: Jack "J.T." Etheridge, 20, pleaded guilty Tuesday to reckless and careless driving; Duque-Wilckens, 41, hit at Pogue Street and Clark Avenue on Nov. 11, 2025; Assistant District Attorney Rachel Byrd; Judge Rashad Hauter; sentence of one year unsupervised probation and 35 hours of community service as reported by that newspaper only)

    Published by The News & Observer · Checked Oct 20, 2026, 8:05 PM

  3. NC State professor killed in pedestrian crash near campus; driver cited (CBS 17, November 2025: Raleigh police, about 6:11 p.m. at Pogue Street and Clark Avenue; Natalia Duque-Wilckens, 41, found in the road with serious injuries, died at a hospital; Jack Etheridge, 19, of Waxhaw, stayed at the scene, cited for misdemeanor death by vehicle; N.C. State confirmed assistant professor, Department of Biological Sciences)

    Published by CBS 17 (WNCN) · Checked Oct 20, 2026, 8:05 PM

  4. Police investigating after NC State professor killed by car near campus (The News & Observer, Nov. 12, 2025: court documents, 2018 Ford pickup shortly after 6 p.m. Nov. 11 at Pogue Street and Clark Avenue; Duque-Wilckens, 41; Jack Thomas Etheridge, 19, of Waxhaw, cited for misdemeanor death by vehicle and failing to yield while turning)

    Published by The News & Observer · Checked Oct 20, 2026, 8:05 PM

  5. G.S. 20-140, Reckless driving (Class 2 misdemeanor for (a) careless and heedless driving and (b) driving without due caution in a manner that endangers or is likely to endanger a person or property)

    Official sourcePublished by North Carolina General Assembly · Checked Oct 20, 2026, 8:05 PM

  6. G.S. 20-141.4 (misdemeanor death by vehicle is a Class A1 misdemeanor for an unintentional death caused while violating a traffic law other than impaired driving)

    Official sourcePublished by North Carolina General Assembly · Checked Oct 20, 2026, 8:05 PM

  7. Raleigh City Council minutes, March 17, 2026 (consent item C.9.a, all-way stops, adopted as Ordinance 2026-857, effective seven days after Council action)

    Official sourcePublished by City of Raleigh · Checked Oct 20, 2026, 8:05 PM

  8. City of Raleigh Traffic Schedule No. 2, Stop Intersections (Clark Avenue at Chamberlain Street, Horne Street and Pogue Street, Ordinance 857, effective March 24, 2026)

    Official sourcePublished by City of Raleigh · Checked Oct 20, 2026, 8:05 PM

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