THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 3, 1997 TAG: 9702030070
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 40 lines
It was to have been a playful, but carefully slow ride on the back of a car. Just a short trip down the street. But it ended in tragedy when a 12-year-old girl fell to the pavement, suffering critical head injuries that claimed her life Sunday.
Police said Merina N. Evile regained consciousness only briefly after she fell from the car on Friday afternoon. She was taken to the Trauma Center at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital and later transferred to an intensive care unit at Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters. She died there at 3:20 p.m. Sunday.
The accident happened at 4:18 p.m. Friday in the 1300 block of Faraid Lane in Indian Lakes, said police spokesman Mike Carey.
Beverly Wood, 47, who lives in the same block, was driving past Evile's home nearby in the 1300 block Finchdale Circle when Evile and a friend flagged her down.
The girls wanted to go to Wood's home. They scampered onto the back of the car, expecting a small adventure riding on the trunk of Wood's 1980 Ford Crown Victoria.
``They had traveled about 400 feet when the vehicle hit a small dip in the road,'' Carey said. ``Merina lost her balance and fell off, striking her shoulder and head on the pavement.''
Carey stressed that Wood was driving very slowly and that alcohol was not a factor in the accident.
He said the investigation is continuing and that the case will be turned over to the Commonwealth's Attorney for a decision of what, if any, charges will be filed.
Police asked that anyone who witnessed the accident call 427-4606.
Evile was a student at Salem Middle School and played on the Strikers soccer team, part of the Virginia Beach Soccer Club.
``It's a freak accident,'' Carey said. ``The two girls were very good friends. It's a shame.''
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT TRAFFIC FATALITY