A tragic accident involving a golf cart and a sports utility vehicle claimed the lives of two Kinston residents on Wednesday afternoon.

The collision occurred around 2:30 p.m. at the intersection of Highway 11 and Tulls Mill Road in the Deep Run area of Lenoir County. Authorities reported that Robert Earl Jones, 80, was driving the golf cart south on Highway 11 with his wife, 76-year-old Marjorie Ann Jones, as a passenger.

According to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, Larry Wayne Hall, the driver of the SUV, was also traveling south on Highway 11 when he failed to reduce his speed and crashed into the golf cart. Both Robert and Marjorie Jones were ejected from the cart and pronounced dead at the scene.

Trooper Rico Stephens stated, "The two, from Kinston, were pronounced dead at the scene." Hall was not injured in the incident.

In the wake of the crash, Hall has been charged with failure to reduce speed and two counts of misdemeanor death by vehicle. The accident prompted the closure of the southbound lanes of Highway 11 for nearly three hours.

This is a developing story.