DINWIDDIE, Va. – Julie Logan Durham was killed Monday evening when the pickup truck driven by her husband veered into oncoming traffic and was hit by another pickup truck.
The accident occurred around 6:30 p.m. on 460 east and Courthouse Road in Dinwiddie.
"When I heard the news this morning, it’s devastating," says Shannon Riggs, a longtime friend of Julie.
Eric Durham is now charged with driving under the influence.
Sheila Hayes knew Julie three decades, meeting when they were just 10 years old.
"Julie was one of the kindest people" she says from her Chester home.
"I just spoke to her that day," says Hayes, who like so many, find Julie’s death and the charges hard to understand.
"Being angry and upset isn't going to bring Julie back…and she loved him and he loved her, he adored her -- treated her like a queen".
Michael Foote, the driver of the other truck, was heading home from a friend's house.
“The truck, I saw it coming across 460 and I thought it was gonna stop in the middle and it didn't stop,” he recalls.
Foote says there was nothing more he could do than what he did.
"I slammed on brakes, tried to stop from hitting them, it was just too late,” he says. He says his body is still sore, and mentally he's trying to come to terms with someone dying in the wreck.
Several drivers did stop and try to help, and were able to pull both Eric and Julie from their truck before it burned.
Friends of Julie say she was a devoted mother who loved her ten-year old son and most agree with Shannon.
"Why did she have to go so early, I mean she had so much life to live, she was so full of life, just very tragic,” she says.
Eric Durham remains at Southside Regional Medical Center, recovering from his injuries.
