DINWIDDIE COUNTY, Va. (WTVR) - Shaylin M. Herrin, 15, of Dewitt, died Wednesday night, when the car she was riding in crashed on Carson Road in Dinwiddie County, according to Virginia State Police Sergeant Thomas Molnar. The single-car crash happened around 9:15 p.m.
[CLICK: Memorial fund set-up to help Dinwiddie family pay for teen's funeral]
The area where it happened is home to Raymond Davis. He said the normally calm community was replaced with chaos following the crash.
"The police and it looks like the forensics unit was out here and they were studying the scene, and they had the road roped off," said Davis.
Detectives were investigating the crash into Thursday morning. Investigators said Herrin and two others were traveling back from a church event when their car rounded a curve, ran off the road, hit a ditch and flipped several times before landing in a cornfield.
"That curve when it goes from this end to that end, it does almost a 90-degree angle right there," said Davis.
The teenage driver, 19-year-old Timothy B. Quarles, was not hurt. Police charged him with with reckless driving - failure to maintain proper control.
Another teenage passenger was taken by paramedics to a local hospital with minor injuries. But police said Herrin was the only one not wearing a seat belt. She was thrown from the car.
"They had the spotlights out in the cornfield, apparently looking for her," explained Davis.
Herrin was pronounced dead at the scene. Her family was present when her body was discovered.
"The family was out," said Davis. "I was unaware that the family was right here on the scene and everything was pretty surreal."
Shattered glass, skid marks and corn stalks chopped off, were all reminders of the devastation that happened a quarter-mile from Davis' front yard. Unfortunately it is not the first crash that's happened in the area.
"Even if you are going five or 10 miles mph over the speed limit around this corner, it's almost like you are doing 80 or 90 in reality," said Davis.
The 15-year-old student was a 9th grader at Dinwiddie Junior High School. The students were scheduled to take their Standards of Learning (SOL) test on Thursday, but it was postponed. School officials say grief counselors were brought in to help the students cope with the death of their classmate.
