SUV hits 7 Pedestrians, Kills 17-month-old near Harrisonburg - NBC29 WVIR Charlottesville, VA News, Sports and Weather

SUV hits 7 Pedestrians, Kills 17-month-old near Harrisonburg

HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) - An 17-month-old child is dead and six other people are being treated for injuries after a sport utility vehicle ran off the road and hit them.

Virginia State Police say the 16-year-old male driver is charged with involuntary manslaughter. He wasn't identified because he is a juvenile.

The accident occurred around 8 a.m. Friday morning in a subdivision just outside Harrisonburg.

State police say the teenager lost control of a Jeep and ran off the right side of the road. The SUV hit two adults and five children, including the 17-month-old.

The victims were taken to area hospitals. Their conditions weren't immediately available. The victims' names haven't been released.

The driver wasn't injured.

The investigation is continuing.

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Virginia State Police
Press Release

A 17-month-old child was killed Friday morning (Aug 31) in a single- vehicle and pedestrian crash in the Belmont subdivision, which is located just west of the City of Harrisonburg in Rockingham County. At 8 a.m., Virginia State Police Trooper I. S. Sargent was called to the scene at the intersection of Nutmeg Court and Westwind Drive.

A 1997 Jeep SUV was traveling south on Nutmeg Court when its driver lost control and ran off the right side of the roadway. The Jeep then struck seven pedestrians: two adults and five children. All of the pedestrians were transported to Rockingham Memorial Hospital (RMH).

Kate Beagle, 17 months, of Verona, died a short time later at RMH. Her older sister was not injured, but was also transported to RMH, just as a precautionary measure.

The Beagle sisters along with a 2-year-old male and a 2-year-old female were with their babysitter, Christina Glick, 27, of Harrisonburg. Glick also had her 7-month-old son with her. A second adult, Oriana Good, 45, of Harrisonburg, was walking with them, too. The seven of them were walking away from a neighborhood school bus stop when they were struck by the Jeep SUV.

None of the surviving children suffered any life-threatening injuries. Good was flown from RMH to UVA Hospital for treatment of serious, but not life-threatening injuries.

The driver of the Jeep, a 16-year-old male from Harrisonburg, Va., was not injured in the crash.

Trooper Sargent is being assisted by the Virginia State Police Culpeper Division's Crash Reconstruction Team and Bureau of Criminal Investigation General Investigation Section. The investigation into the cause of the crash remains ongoing at this time.

Under the direction of the Rockingham County Commonwealth Attorney's Office the 16-year-old driver has been charged with involuntary manslaughter (felony). The identity of the driver will not be released since the driver is a juvenile.