A 21-year-old woman was charged with involuntary manslaughter and drug offenses after her car struck two pedestrians Sunday morning, killing one and seriously injuring the other, police said.

The wreck happened just before 8 a.m. on Craig Avenue, in front of White Oak Manor retirement and nursing home.

Susan Karabulut, 33, who worked as a nurse at White Oak, was standing on the sidewalk with Lisa McTe. Karabulut's relatives said she likely had stepped outside for a cigarette break near the start of her 12-hour nursing shift.

Leah Anne Walton was driving her 2001 Volkswagen Beetle on Craig Avenue toward North Sharon Amity Road. She told police she reached into her purse for a cigarette - and briefly took her eyes off the road.

The car crossed the double-yellow line, investigators said, and drove across the opposite lanes of traffic. The car jumped the curb onto the sidewalk and struck both women, police said.

Karabulut was dragged back onto the roadway, where, police said, the car stopped and Walton waited for emergency personnel.

Karabulut died at the scene, and McTe was taken to Carolinas Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.

Karabulut's relatives said she was a dedicated nurse who had lived in Charlotte for six years with her 11-year-old daughter.

She and her daughter loved trips to Carowinds amusement park, said her father, Paul Fabrizio, 67. They last went three days ago.

Karabulut also loved her job, Fabrizio said. "She was top of the line," he said. "Every patient she treated, she treated like they belonged to her family."

"When they passed away, she'd come home and cry," he said. "She really cared."

Walton was charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless driving, marijuana and drug paraphernalia possession. She also was charged with having no liability insurance and driving with a revoked vehicle registration tag. She was in jail on $11,000 bond Sunday.

Court records show one previous arrest in North Carolina, for underage drinking in 2007, a charge that was dismissed.