Police said a 22-year-old Silver Spring man was driving erratically through a White Oak neighborhood Wednesday afternoon when he struck and killed a woman on her way to a job interview.
According to Montgomery County Police, the man was driving a Nissan X-Terra erratically on New Hampshire Avenue and Cresthaven Drive. Police said he crossed over to the wrong side of the road, striking and killing 49-year-old Vanessa Dixon, a resident of D.C.
He then kept driving, police said, hitting two more parked cars before coming to a stop. He was taken into custody under the suspicion of DUI.
Police gave the driver a breath test but are not releasing the results and not saying whether or not he failed. Charges are pending the police investigation. It could be six weeks to five months before charges are filed, which is standard.
There are no sidewalks in the area where Dixon was struck, News4's Kristin Wright reported.
Dixon’s family said she had just got off a bus and was on her way to a job interview.
“She just wanted to go to work so she could take care of her kids," Dixon’s niece Wendy Plummer said.
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
Dixon was born and raised in Jamaica and moved here about 20 years ago. She was the mother of five and grandmother of four and she worked as a nursing assistant.
Dixon's sister Velma Hibbert said there are a lot of people mourning her in Jamaica.
"Whoever take her life away, I need to see that person put to justice,” she said.
The family told News4 they’ve never experienced a tragedy like this.
"For me to walk this walk with my family, it is a total loss and we don't know how to cope with it," Plummer said.
Dixon’s youngest daughter, Samantha Mowatt, told News4 she’s sad but not angry at the driver.
"He just took a life, so it doesn't make sense to add more hardship on that,” she said. “He's going to understand what he did."
Dixon is also survived by her parents.
