Woman killed after being pinned between her van door and tree

A Maryland woman is dead following a terrible vehicle accident. Her family and police are still trying to understand how the accident happened.

"She was getting in or out of the car and it slipped into gear and she got swept up by the vehicle," said Richard Knox.

He said the loss of his wife, 62-year-old Lori Debra Wood-Knox, is hard to process and it is even harder to understand just exactly how it happened.

Police say it appears from their investigation that her vehicle went into reverse, and while backing up, it went onto the curb heading toward a tree.

At the same time, the door was partially open and Wood-Knox was stepping out of the van. Police say as she was going back, she was hanging out of the vehicle and got trapped between a tree and the door.

According to investigators, they got a call around 6:30 a.m. Friday reporting a van that was running and seemed to be unoccupied.

It happened just a couple of blocks away from her home at the corner of Randolph Road and Allies Road.

"Really tragic, untimely situation for everybody, unbelievable," said Richard Knox told us.

Wood-Knox's family described her as a loving, selfless mother of four and grandmother of seven. Her youngest grandchild was just born on Saturday.

"Everybody is taking it pretty hard," said her husband.

Her children and husband say she put her family first and took care of everyone -- often putting their needs above her own.

"She was kind and not selfish," said Richard. "This is just so untimely."

Wood-Knox's husband told us they have family from all over the country coming in to town in the next few days to pay their respects.