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BDHS teen killed in crash
A Brentsville District High School junior died Sunday after a car crash on Saturday in Nokesville.Sixteen-year-old Alyssa Leighann Beach of Nokesville died at Fairfax Hospital at 2:45 p.m. on Jan. 11.
The crash occurred just after 11 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 10, at 12417 Vint Hill Road in Nokesville.
According to police, Beach was driving a 2007 Honda Civic west on Vint Hill Road just before Schaeffer Lane. She ran off the left side of the road and hit a ditch and a tree.
She and her passenger, another 16-year-old junior at Brentsville, were transported to the hospital.
The passenger's injuries were minor and Brentsville principal Robert Scott said Monday that she had been released from the hospital and was recovering at home.
Both Beach and the passenger were wearing seatbelts and there was no indication that alcohol or speed were involved, according to First Sgt. Kim Chinn, a spokesperson with the county police.
Beach was a member of the Brentsville volleyball team and was also active in yearbook, said her yearbook and English teacher, Artise Gill, who described her as a good writer who was also organized and dedicated. Gill said Beach loved yearbook and often stayed after school to finish up her projects. She had hoped to become the staff's editor or business manager next year.
In English class, she had just finished work on her research paper, which was about the benefits of talk therapy versus traditional medicine in psychology, said Gill, who had Beach in her classroom four hours at a time every other day.
“She was a good person. She had a good heart. We just have good memories of her and we just have to go on that,” she said.
In volleyball, Beach was “a pretty good back row player," said varsity coach Bill Lynn. "She would have probably of been the designated libero next year for the varsity but she played real well this year. In fact,
she got two awards at our banquet for most good serve receives and also most digs."
Lynn described Beach as an aggressive player on the floor who "seemed to not be concerned about sacrificing her body to make a play. She hit the floor quite a bit to make plays."
Beach, who honed her skills during the off-season by playing club ball, seemed to be particularly close to her five junior class teammates, Lynn said.
Her death is an extra blow in many ways. Her older sister Katie, a 2005 graduate of Brentsville and a standout volleyball player, died in 2005 during her freshman year at Virginia Intermont College.
And in addition to the toll it is taking on the Beach family, Alyssa Beach's death is also hitting the school division hard.
“It's been a very rough couple of weeks for the school division,” said Prince William schools spokesman Ken Blackstone.
Just before Christmas, Jean Smith, the Hylton High School Choir Booster president, and her son James were murdered in their Dale City home during an apparent robbery.
On Jan. 3, Bull Run Middle School student Patrick Shire, 13, died in a skiing accident in Pennsylvania. Then on Jan. 7, 16-year-old Shelby B. Nicholson, a Woodbridge High School student, was killed in a car crash. Two days later, on Jan. 9, the body of 13-year-old PACE West student Lexie Glover was found in Woodbridge. She had disappeared from Central Library in Manassas two days earlier and evidence suggests she was murdered.
Blackstone said that in a typical year, a school division the size of Prince William may experience one or two fatalities among students and staff. Six deaths in less than a month is a staggering blow for everyone, he said.
Grief counselors were on hand at Brentsville on Monday and Tuesday to talk with students and staff members, Scott said. The students are preparing for exams next week and are now trying to cope with the death of a friend while still staying focused on their studies.
“I was proud of the students today for the way they conducted themselves,” he said on Monday. “They really conducted themselves in a mature way.”
Funeral details had not been released as of press time on Tuesday.
- Staff writer Dan Roem contributed to this report.
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