Loudoun County woman killed by drunk driver while walking, sheriff says

LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. (FOX 5 DC) - A Loudoun County woman was walking along Morrisonville Road Friday morning when she was struck and killed by a 19-year-old drunk driver, investigators say.

Investigators say Zachary Frye of Purcellville was traveling eastbound on the road when he struck the woman, left the roadway, and hit a tree.

Frye's injuries were minor.

He was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter and driving while intoxicated.

A passerby noticed the crash around 7:30 a.m. and contacted police. It happened just across the street from Zion Lutheran Church, where friends say the victim attended services for about 15 years.

"She was, she's just loved by everyone," said Daniel Cooper, the church's council president, who declined to provide the name of the woman out of respect to her family.

Cooper's wife, Terri, added that she found the incident to be particularly unsettling given where it happened.

"At 7:30 in the morning for something like this to happen the way it happened, it really concerned me that on this rural road, that there's a lot of young children waiting for school busses, that it could've been any one of them," she said.

Frye was held at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center pending a bond hearing.