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    • New details on the death of the Staunton women on US 11
    Duluth

    New details on the death of the Staunton women on US 11

    Eira Gwyneth Posted on

    WEYERS CAVE – Nearly 300 people attended a concert at the Valley Pike Farm Market in Augusta County Saturday night, one of several held at the venue this summer.

    But after the event concluded, tragedy struck just before 9:30 p.m. when two elderly sisters from Staunton were struck and killed by a pickup truck as they attempted to cross Lee Highway (US 11) in Weyers Cave. Virginia State Police said Opal C. Nelson, 83, and Carolyn M. Childress, 72, died at the scene.

    It is unclear why the women parked at a nearby business across the busy road rather than at the venue itself, located at 3494 Lee Highway south of Fadley Road.

    Dave Gardner, owner of Valley Pike Farm Market, said his business had more than enough parking to accommodate the concertgoers. He said between 275 and 300 people attended the concert, which featured jazz and R&B music.

    Gardner said concerts are usually scheduled for the last Saturday of the month, but said the band performing Saturday night had asked to play even though it was not the last Saturday of the month.

    “It was kind of a once-in-a-lifetime event,” he said.

    Customers parked themselves, but Gardner said there were also parking attendants who helped park vehicles until about 7:30 p.m. “We had plenty of parking space,” he said.

    Gardner noted that there was overflow parking on Saturday night as well. “We probably could have parked a hundred, two hundred more cars,” he said.

    Gardner said he did not know why the women were parked at a nearby auto repair shop, north of the Valley Pike Farm Market but across Lee Highway. After the women were hit, a passerby and bartender from the concert performed CPR to save them, Gardner said.

    “It’s just tragic,” he said.

    Virginia State Police reported the women were struck by a 2003 Dodge Caravan traveling north toward Harrisonburg. The van’s driver and a passenger suffered minor injuries. No charges have been filed.

    Sergeant SM Gregory of the Virginia State Police said there were no crosswalks near the scene of the death and that the speed limit on that stretch of road was 55 miles per hour.

    “It was pretty dark outside,” she said. “They were just walking back across the street.”

    There were no off-duty police officers on site directing traffic, and Gregory said there was no one handling traffic control at the Valley Pike Farm Market, either.

    After the women were attacked, state police arrested Kristopher E. Nelson, 41, of Staunton, who was present at the scene as a bystander. “He refused to leave,” Gregory said.

    Nelson is accused of getting into an altercation with police and causing minor injuries to an officer. He is charged with disturbing the peace, obstruction of justice and two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer. The injured officer was briefly taken to Sentara RMH Medical Center in Harrisonburg.

    “He was treated and is doing well,” Gregory said of the officer.

    Virginia State Police did not say whether the man arrested was a relative of the victims.

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    Brad Zinn is the police, courts and breaking news reporter for The News Leader. Have a news tip? Or something that needs to be investigated? You can email reporter Brad Zinn (he/him) at [email protected]. You can also follow him on X (formerly Twitter).

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    Eira Gwyneth
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