THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 23, 1995 TAG: 9508230493
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
A Portsmouth woman accused of ramming another vehicle on the Western Freeway Sunday, killing a 14-year-old passenger, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and attempted murder, according to police spokesman G.A. Brown.
Irma Ziehr, 25, of the 20 block of Woodmill Court, was arraigned Monday in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, Brown said. She was being held in the Portsmouth City Jail on $500,000 bail.
Jennifer Erickson, 14, of the 4700 block of Helensburgh Drive in Chesapeake, was killed when the 1994 Jeep wagon she was in flipped and crashed.
The driver of the Jeep, 21-year-old Wanda Zavala, was taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital and was transferred to Portsmouth Naval Hospital, where a spokesman said Tuesday she was treated and released.
Police said the incident started when Ziehr went to a swimming pool in Chesapeake where her estranged husband was working. She saw his Jeep wagon - being driven by Zavala - leaving the pool. Ziehr then followed in a 1994 Ford Escort.
The pursuit moved west on the Western Freeway. Police said Ziehr rammed the Jeep twice, causing Zavala to lose control. The Jeep hit a guard rail near the Towne Point Road underpass. The Jeep flipped, then rolled several times, pinning both occupants inside.
Erickson died at the scene. Ziehr and two passengers, both juveniles, were not hurt, police said.
Police earlier reported that the crash resulted from a love triangle that included the Ziehrs and Zavala.
That was not the case, Brown said on Tuesday. Zavala and Irma Ziehr's husband were work associates.
``It also been determined that, contrary to early reports, the females in the Jeep were doing the estranged husband a favor and were not, I repeat, were not involved in this domestic situation between the Ziehrs,'' Brown said. ``They were innocent victims of happenstance.''
Police did not release the husband's name.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT TRAFFIC FATALITY ARREST INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER
by CNB