A 22-year-old Maryland woman was tragically killed over the weekend after a 12-year-old boy attempted to take his own life by jumping off a highway overpass in Virginia. The child has not been named because of his age but is currently being treated for life-threatening injuries at Fairfax Inova Hospital. The victim, meanwhile, has been identified Marisa Harris, a graduate student at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia, who was studying clinical counseling.
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WRC-TV reported that the heartbreaking scene unfolded around 4:18 p.m. on Saturday. Harris and her boyfriend driving eastbound on I-66 when the boy jumped from the Cedar Lane overpass and landed on their SUV.
State police confirmed Harris was “incapacitated” by the impact and pronounced dead at the scene, but her boyfriend, who was sitting in the front passenger seat of the vehicle, was unharmed and managed to steer the car off of the highway and stop it.
After initially being considered an accident, the incident is now being investigated as an attempted suicide. At just 12 years old, one has to wonder what was going on in the young man’s life to lead him to take such drastic action. Harris’ distraught mother told WRC-TV that her daughter would have helped the boy, if given the opportunity.
(H/T: New York Post)