Staff Report

The pastor of a Red Springs church was one of two people killed in an early morning traffic accident on Monday.

Fred Nelson Gibbs, 40, of 2044 Henry Hammond Road, established Living Waters Assembly of God in February 2002 and had remained as its pastor since then.

Gibbs was wearing his seat belt, according to investigating Trooper R.D. Wright of the state Highway Patrol, but it malfunctioned, and he was thrown from the 1993 Nissan pickup truck he was driving.

Also killed in the accident was Brittany Graybill, a 20-year-old Clayton resident. She was the girlfriend of Marshall Clifford Heckel, a Lumberton resident who was driving the second vehicle involved in the accident, Wright said.

According to Wright, the wreck happened about 7:50 a.m. at the intersection of Rennert and McQueen roads, about 2.4 miles south of Rennert. He said that Heckel, 21, was driving a 1998 Ford Mustang east on McQueen Road when it failed to yield at a stop sign, entered the intersection, and was struck broadside on the passenger’s side by the Nissan.

Gibbs died at the scene. Graybill was transported to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville, where she later died. Heckel, of Lumberton, was treated and released from Southeastern Regional Medical Center.

Wright said Graybill and Heckel were also wearing their seat belts.

Wright said it is unclear why Heckel failed to yield the right of way. He said he has been unable to conduct a thorough interview because Heckel was upset at the death of Graybill, his girlfriend for about a year.

Misdemeanor charges are pending, Wright said. He said that drugs, alcohol nor speed appeared to be factors in the accident.

Living Waters Assembly of God is located on McQueen Road, less than a half mile from where the deadly accident occurred.

Gibbs’ wife, Ella, called The Robesonian this morning and spoke briefly about her husband. She and her husband had been married 21 years and they have two daughters, Ashely, 24, and Desarae, 18.

”Not only is it a loss to the church and his family, but a loss to the community,” she said.

She said that her husband’s father, Albert Springfield Gibbs, was shot to death during a robbery 24 years ago, also on McQueen Road. She said he was killed at a grocery store he owned at the intersection with Shannon Road.

Becky Bullard answered the phone at Living Waters Assembly of God this morning.

”He was a great person and a righteous man,” she said. “He lived what he preached. He loved people, no matter what the person looked like, what they smelled like, no matter where they came from, he loved them.”

She said about 100 people are typically in the Pentecostal church congregation on Sunday mornings.

Funeral arrangements for Gibbs and Graybill were incomplete this morning. Gibbs’ funeral is being handled by Boles Funeral Home & Cremation of Red Springs. Graybill’s funeral will be handled by Revels Funeral Home, Pembroke.