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Woman who died when boy fell on her car ‘was going to make a difference’

WASHINGTON — The woman who died Saturday when a 12-year-old jumped from an overpass on Interstate 66 in Fairfax County, Virginia, and landed on her car was a Marymount University graduate student studying mental health counseling.

, university President Matthew D. Shank said that Marisa Harris, 22, of Olney, Maryland, was a first-year graduate student in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program.

Lisa Jackson-Cherry, the chair of the department, said in the statement that, “Marisa was very quiet and reflective, but you could tell once she completed her program she was going to make a difference in the lives of a lot of young adults.”

Shanks said that a memorial service will be held later, and that, “The loss of any student, particularly in so heartbreaking a manner, grieves us all.”

Harris died of her injuries Saturday when a 12-year-old boy jumped from the Cedar Lane overpass near Nutley Street, the Virginia State Police said.

The boy was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, and police are investigating the incident as a suicide attempt. He’s still alive.

A man in the front passenger seat of Harris’ car was not injured.

Rick Massimo

Rick Massimo came to Âé¶¹¹ÙÍø, and to Washington, in 2013 after having lived in Providence, R.I., since he was a child. He's the author of "A Walking Tour of the Georgetown Set" and "I Got a Song: A History of the Newport Folk Festival."

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