Who Is Marisa Harris? Suicidal 12-Year-Old Boy Falls On Car, Killing Driver

A 22-year-old woman was killed Sunday after a 12-year-old boy jumped off a highway overpass in Virginia, which police claimed was an apparent suicide attempt, and landed on the SUV she was driving on the interstate below.

Marisa Harris was declared dead at the scene. She was a clinical counseling student who would have helped the child if she had the chance, her mother told NBC 4 News Washington. She added Harris wanted to devote her career to helping children.

Harris' mother told NBC 4 News the incident happened so quickly she was unable to avoid hitting the child. Her boyfriend, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, grabbed the wheel quickly and steered the vehicle off the road in order to avoid hitting other vehicles. Harris was killed by the impact, while her boyfriend was not hurt.

Maryland police were investigating the case as a suicide attempt. They said the boy, who has not been identified yet, sustained life-threatening injuries and was admitted to Fairfax Hospital.

Harris was reportedly driving a 2005 Ford Escape in Vienna in eastbound I-66 when the boy reportedly jumped from the overpass at Cedar Lane, Virginia State Police said, according to FOX 5 News. The incident happened around 4:15 p.m. EDT.

Harris, who was originally from Olney, Maryland, graduated from Towson University in 2016. Following that, she was enrolled in her first year at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia, where she had been studying clinical counseling.

A professor at Marymount remembered Harris as being "caring" and "compassionate" during an interview with NBC 4 News. She said the 22-year-old loved to help children in need and had dreamt about eventually making it a career.

"Marisa came across as a very caring and compassionate student," Lisa Jackson-Cherry, her professor told the news outlet.

"(She was) someone who wanted to help others who were either disadvantaged or needed more assistance to work through mental distress."

The Marymount student body had been notified of her death via email on Oct. 30.

"Every student contributes immeasurably to the community we create together at Marymount University," a statement from the student body said.

"The loss of any student, particularly in so heartbreaking a manner, grieves us all," according to NBC 4 News.

Harris completed her graduation in 2013 from Sherwood High School in Olney, Maryland, where she had been part of a graduating class of 347 students. A professor at Towson University described her as a quiet person who "took her studies very seriously."

"About half of (students) don’t make it," Towson psychology professor Dr. Bethany Brand told ABC 2 News.

"She made it in. And then they take specialty classes with students — 12 other students, for a whole year and a half. So she got to know her classmates very well. I’ve been hearing from her classmates all day."

Harris' father Patrick Harris described his daughter as an outgoing person, who had a love for the outdoors.

"She was fearless, she was absolutely fearless," he told the Washington Post in an interview. "She was loved by her friends, she was dearly loved by her family, she was admired by her peers, she was just a shining star."