Megan Vaughn
Tallulah – Megan Vaughn had 120 milliliters of ethanol in her system when she accidentally stabbed her right femoral artery and passed away after the tragic April 7 accident.
Autopsy results obtained by The Graham Star paint a much-clearer picture of what happened to the 30-year-old Lebanon, Va. native at a residence on State Shed Road during the late hours of April 6.
According to the preliminary summary – written by local medical examiner James Hyde – Vaughn was at the residence with a male friend (not identified in the report), when the male took a bottle of alcohol away from Vaughn and threw it across the room. From there, Vaughn grabbed a “medium-size fixed-blade knife” and was “playing” with it, when she accidentally swung the knife and stabbed her upper-right thigh. The knife went fully through her thigh – creating a 6-inch-deep wound and severing the right femoral artery, the major blood supply in the leg – and ended up puncturing the left thigh, as well.
Graham County deputies arrived on the scene around 12:25 a.m. April 7 and attempted to bandage the wound, before EMS personnel arrived at the residence and took over care.
During transport, Vaughn went into cardiac arrest and first responders were unable to revive the Jacksonville, N.C. resident. She passed away at 1:31 a.m.
In addition to the fatal injuries, Vaughn reportedly had “abrasions and contusions” on her head, as well as visible lacerations on both her upper and lower extremities.
She was also deemed underweight, with a body-mass index of 16.5. Vaughn was 5-feet-6 and weighed an estimated 130 pounds at the time of her passing.
Local officials confirmed shortly after Vaughn’s death that she had lived in Graham County for several years.