TRIANGLE, Va. — A Virginia family is dealing with overwhelming loss after a 28-year-old mother of nine died in a crash and her father was killed in a shooting less than a week later.
Ciera Berry was driving a Nissan Altima on Interstate 95 in Northern Virginia on May 9, when she tried to change lanes and caused a multi-vehicle crash, The Washington Post reported. While changing lanes, Berry hit another car, which then hit a box truck, state police told the newspaper. Berry’s car also hit the truck and a jersey wall before catching fire, The Washington Post reported.
Police said Berry was not wearing a seat belt and she died at the scene, WTOP reported.
Berry was the mother of nine children, ranging in age from 2 months to 12 years old, WUSA reported.
“The younger ones, they don’t know, they don’t really understand,” Berry’s mother, Lisa Berry Winslow, told WUSA. “The older ones, they have their days.”
State police said in a statement to The Washington Post that “speed and driver distraction and being investigated as contributing factors in the crash.” The other drivers involved in the crash were not hurt.
Berry’s father, Miles Hall, was killed in a shooting May 15, WUSA reported.
Police are still investigating the shooting and have not identified a suspect, saying only that an SUV was seen speeding away from the area, WRIC reported.