ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 21, 1995 TAG: 9512210061
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: FLOYD
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN AND KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITERS
A 16-year-old girl has become the third Floyd County High School student to die in an automobile accident since August.
Jamie Beckner was killed Tuesday afternoon in a single-vehicle accident on U.S. 221, about one-eighth mile south of Virginia 664 in Floyd County.
State police said Beckner and two other students were on their way home from school when the driver lost control of his pickup truck on the rain-slick road. The pickup skidded off the left side of the road and down an embankment.
The truck overturned and first landed on the passenger side before coming to rest on its roof, according to Trooper K.A. Gregory. Beckner died at the scene.
Another passenger, Ashley Carter, 16, suffered minor cuts and bruises and was taken to Roanoke Memorial Hospital. A high school guidance counselor said Carter was to be released Wednesday.
The driver, 17-year-old Donald Lee Wray, was charged with reckless driving, Gregory said. Wray was not injured in the crash.
Wray, a Floyd County senior, was not speeding, Gregory said, but he exceeded what the trooper considered a safe speed for the wet road conditions.
Ginny Gardner, director of guidance, said Beckner was classified as a sophomore but had enough credits to graduate at the end of the next school year.
"We met with all of the teachers in the library prior to school," Gardner said, and planned how to handle the news with students.
Wednesday, a schoolwide moment of silence was held for Beckner. If students and teachers wished, teachers opened their first-period classes to talk about Beckner and her death.
Beckner was a member of the school's chapter of Students Against Drunk Drivers.
"She had a real close-knit group of friends," Gardner said. "She was always concerned about her friends and always stuck up for [them]."
Students were allowed to talk to counselors Wednesday, including a mental health services worker and an elementary school counselor who came to the school to help out.
"It's been relatively calm," Gardner said. "This has happened too much up here. ... I think the kids are still kind of numb, shocked."
Two other Floyd County High School students, 16-year-old Valerie Dawn Wade and 15-year-old Christina Elizabeth Shepherd, died in an Aug. 3 car accident, also on U.S. 221. The girls were riding back to Shepherd's house when the driver lost control and crossed into oncoming traffic. The car was struck head on, and three other students, including the driver, were injured.
Funeral services for Beckner will be at noon Friday at Copper Hill Church of the Brethren, with burial in the church cemetery. The family will receive visitors today, 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m., at Lotz Roanoke Chapel.
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Beckner KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB