Alcohol and drugs may have played roles in separate vehicle crashes that killed two pedestrians in Fairfax County this past Saturday (July 20), police say.
Yesterday (Sunday), the Fairfax County Police Department identified Giomarie Davila-Ocasio, a 26-year-old Reston resident, as the woman who died after being hit by a driver in the Great Falls area of Route 7 (Leesburg Pike). The department also announced that a teen was arrested in connection with a fatal crash in Lorton.
According to the FCPD, a preliminary investigation found that Davila-Ocasio might have been under the influence of alcohol when she “entered” the westbound lanes of Leesburg Pike near Downey Drive early Sunday morning.
“The driver of a 2016 Ford Explorer was traveling west on Leesburg Pike near the intersection and struck Davila-Ocasio,” the FCPD said in a news release.
Police officers and medical personnel were dispatched to the intersection around 3:43 a.m., but Davila-Ocasio died at the scene. The Ford driver “initially left the scene but returned shortly after,” police said.
The department says alcohol “does not appear to be a factor” in the crash for the driver, but detectives are still investigating the circumstances, including whether the driver’s speed might’ve played a role.
The Lorton crash occurred around 10:35 p.m. when the driver of a 2017 Jeep Cherokee allegedly hit a pedestrian while traveling east on Lorton Road near Timarand Drive, according to the FCPD.
Jamar Caper, 35, of Alexandria was crossing Lorton Road when he was struck. He was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries that ultimately killed him.
After detectives determined that narcotics “may have played a role in the crash,” the Jeep driver, a 17-year-old, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of drugs.
“The teen was taken to the Fairfax County Juvenile Detention Center and subsequently released to their parents,” the FCPD said, adding that speed is still being investigated as a possible factor. “…The circumstances surrounding the crash remain under investigation.”
All four sides of the Lorton Road and Timarand Drive intersection have pedestrian crosswalks, but they don’t appear to be striped.
Davila-Ocasio and Caper’s deaths appear to bring the county’s pedestrian death toll for 2024 up to 10 people. Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles data shows six fatalities, but it doesn’t yet include any from June or July.
In addition to the two fatal crashes on Saturday, a pedestrian was killed by a minivan driver on I-95 last Thursday (July 18), and a woman died after a crash on Braddock Road in Centreville on June 24 that also seriously injured her partner.
Screenshot via Google Maps
