Trevor Merritt was just 17-years-old and wore #11, all 3 teens were killed in a wreck after football practice
On October 8, 2025 three football players from E.E. Smith High School were killed in a vehicular collision in Fayetteville, NC. One of the victims was identified as Trevor Merritt, 17, he was a senior at the school and was just weeks away from his 18th birthday. The other dead victims Jaihyon Elliott and Nick Williams wore numbers 21 and 14. Trevor wore number 11. Trevor was in and out of Charlotte often, he had many family members in Charlotte.
Four football players were all riding in the same car heading home from football practice. The driver of the vehicle loss control and ran off of Rose Hill Rd. Follow Charlotte Alerts on Instagram.
The car hit a power pole, struck a tree, and flipped over. Trevor and the other 2 victims died on impact. The 4th victim survived and was air lifted to UNC Chapel Hill Hospital.
There is no word on who was at fault for the crash. Trevor was a linebacker on the team in his senior year, although he was not a top ranked Division I college prospect, he was impactful on the high school field. Trevor would of likely gone to a Division II, HBCU, or a Division III college to play football.
Several students are sad and in distress. The kids that died were pretty popular on campus.
It is likely the EE Smith football game will be canceled for this week.
