12-year-old dies after being thrown from vehicle

A 12-year-old Maryland girl was killed early yesterday and her mother was critically injured in a wreck that closed the northbound lanes of Interstate 95 south of Petersburg for hours.

Shiane Dixon of Boyds, Md., died at the scene after she was thrown from the vehicle into the oncoming lane and struck by a tractor-trailer, state police said.

The girl was riding without a seat belt in the cargo area of a sport utility vehicle that ran off the right side of southbound I-95 at 4:39 a.m., police said.

She was struck by a truck that was traveling northbound.

The driver of the SUV, Diane P. Dixon, of Boyds, Md., suffered life-threatening injuries and was flown by a state police Med-Flight helicopter to VCU Medical Center. She was wearing a seat belt.

Dixon's 16-year-old son, Hassan, was partially ejected from the vehicle and taken to VCU Medical Center with injuries not considered life-threatening. He was wearing a seat belt.

Two other passengers, Jordan Lusane, 18, and Taylor Scott, 12, were taken to Southside Regional Medical Center in Petersburg for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. Lusane also is a member of the Dixon family, and Scott is a family friend. Both were wearing seat belts.

The driver of the tractor-trailer was not injured.

The wreck closed the northbound lanes and one southbound lane of I-95 at the U.S. 301 Exit 45.

In a double-fatality Saturday in Hanover County, state police identified the victims as Franklin A. Taylor, 76, and his wife, Wanda B. Taylor, 83.

Although circumstances of the crash are still being investigated, Hanover authorities said they believe the couple's minivan was southbound on Hanover Courthouse Road near Georgetown Road when it crossed into the northbound lane and struck a pickup truck head-on.

The van burst into flames, and the couple couldn't be removed. The pickup-truck driver was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

In another weekend wreck, a Midlothian man was one of two motorcycle riders killed when their vehicles collided Sunday on U.S. 250 in Augusta County, state police said.

Michael K. Neve, 51, of Midlothian died at the scene at 12:36 p.m. The second motorcyclist, Delbert W. Redman, 53, of Troy, died at 1:05 p.m., police said.

State police said Neve was riding a motorcycle east on U.S. 250 when he crossed the center line and collided with Redman's motorcycle, traveling west, about eight-tenths of a mile west of state Route 629. Both men were wearing helmets.

Also Saturday, a Mineral woman was killed after her car struck a parked farm tractor in Louisa County. Police said Joy S. Jasper, 20, died at the scene at 12:20 a.m. on state Route 208, about a quarter-mile east of state Route 850.

Police said Jasper was run off the road to the left. Police said she wasn't wearing a safety belt.

A total of 345 people have died on Virginia roads so far this year, compared with 406 at this time last year.

Staff writer Michael Martz contributed to this report.