A young woman driving on the highway was killed when a 12-year-old boy jumped off of a Virginia overpass and landed on her car in an alleged suicide attempt.

The unidentified jumper fell from above I-66 in Fairfax County around 4:15 p.m. Saturday, striking the driver?s side of Marisa Harris's Ford Escape, according to Virginia State Police.

Harris, a 22-year-old from Maryland, was pronounced dead at the scene after her boyfriend, in the passenger's seat and not injured, took control of the car and steered it to safety.

The boy is being treated for life-threatening injuries, and police said they are investigating the jump as a suicide attempt.

Harris's mother told WUSA that her daughter was studying to help children who are battling depression, and that it was "ironic" that she died when a pre-teen who she could have helped allegedly tried to take his own life.

The mother told the station that Harris had graduated summa cum laude from Towson University and was studying at a graduate mental health counseling program at Marymount University.

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