Greensboro man dies after crashing into hydrant, fence and tree

A Greensboro man died after a single-vehicle crash late Sunday night in the 100 block of Wesley Harris Circle, off Pisgah Church Road, after his Honda Civic struck a fire hydrant, a fence and a tree.

Greensboro police identified the driver as 34-year-old Shaki M. Thornhill of Greensboro. Investigators said Thornhill was driving east on Pisgah Church Road when the car went left of center and ran off the road to the left before the impact sequence unfolded near the Wesley Harris Circle area.

The crash happened at about 10:09 p.m. Sunday, April 13, 2026. Greensboro Fire and Guilford County EMS responded to the scene, and Thornhill was taken by ambulance to a local hospital. He later died of his injuries. Police said his family has been notified.

The Greensboro Police Department’s Crash Reconstruction Unit is investigating the wreck, and officials said additional details were not immediately available.

Thornhill’s death is the 15th traffic fatality in Greensboro this year, a grim marker that underscores how quickly a nighttime crash can turn deadly on city streets. The location, just off Pisgah Church Road in north Greensboro, places the wreck in a busy part of the city where drivers move between neighborhood streets and larger arterial roads.

Police have not said what caused Thornhill to drift left of center before the crash. The reconstruction unit will examine the roadway, the vehicle’s path and other evidence to determine what led to the impact with the hydrant, fence and tree.

For Greensboro, the fatality adds another entry to a troubling year on the roads. With 15 traffic deaths already counted in 2026, the city is continuing to see the kind of violent, split-second crashes that leave families grieving and investigators piecing together what happened after the fact.