Murugi Thande

WUSA

WASHINGTON — Virginia State Police are investigating a suicide attempt by a 12-year-old boy who jumped from an interstate overpass, killing a driver below.

Police identified the driver as 22-year-old Marisa Harris of Olney, Md. Harris was a graduate student at Marymount University who wanted to help kids combating depression.

Harris graduated summa cum laude from Towson University before beginning her graduate program at Marymount University where she studied mental health counseling.

Harris' mom called it "ironic" saying the boy who killed her is a child she would have helped.

According to police, Harris was driving her 2005 Ford Escape east on Interstate 66 outside Washington, D.C., when the boy jumped from the Cedar Lane overpass in Fairfax County, incapacitating her.

Harris' family said her boyfriend, who was in the passenger's seat, took control of the car and steered it off of the interstate.

Police responded to the accident at 4:18 p.m. ET. Harris was pronounced dead at the scene. Her boyfriend, whose name was not given, was not injured.

Police transported the 12-year-old boy to Fairfax Inova Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Follow Murugi Thande on Twitter: @Murugithande

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