Man found guilty of 2019 fatal hit and run on Carolina Beach Road

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - A Wilmington man charged in connection to a fatal hit and run in 2019 was found guilty on Friday, June 9, of felony hit and run causing death and driving with a revoked license.

For the charge of felony hit and run causing death, Lesink has been sentenced to 17 to 30 months, and for the charge of driving with a revoked license, he is to serve 20 days.

Lesink will get credit for time served.

Lesink was arrested by N.C. State Highway Patrol on July 27, 2019, for his supposed part in a fatal collision that claimed the life of Sheila Faircloth, who was riding her bike at the time on Carolina Beach Road.

Faircloth died at the scene, and SHP said at the time that Lesink fled the scene after the collision.

“This was a very important case,” said District Attorney Ben David. “And for Sheila, she’s not coming back. But we hope what we got today was justice for her.”

Faircloth’s daughter, Jennifer Faircloth Wissman, addressed Lesink in the courtroom during Friday’s sentencing hearing a says it is a shame that Lesink never got to meet his victim.

“A mother, a kind person, somebody that would help anybody in need,” Faircloth Wissman said. “She was a friend. She was just a beautiful person, and anybody that’s ever met her would say the same thing.”

David says this incident is not the first time Lesink has faced legal troubles.

“Mr. Lesink, by all accounts and with a familiarity of this office with him, is a career criminal,” said David. “We truly believe that he is not only someone who is engaged in the drug trade, but also someone who is scamming people in this community and in other places.”

David says his office believes Lesink may have been impaired during the crash, but adds that state law calls for a lesser sentence for hit-and-run compared to driving while impaired. He calls on state lawmakers to make a change.

“We need to toughen the laws on someone who is fleeing from a scene after they’ve killed somebody,” David said. “Because right now, a person who stays around and is impaired can be punished more harshly than that same impaired person who’s fled, that makes no sense. And they shouldn’t have the benefit of running.”

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