Courtland High student dies after Friday accident

A 15-year-old Courtland High School student died yesterday after being struck by a car the day before, Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Lt. Col. Mike Timm said today.

Shanta Scott, a sophomore, was struck while walking on the shoulder of Cobblestone Drive in the Holleybrooke subdivision at 4:57 p.m. Friday, Timm said.

The driver of the car was a 16-year-old Courtland High School junior, Timm said. No charges are expected.

Both girls lived in the subdivision where the accident occurred.

Timm said Shanta was walking on the shoulder of the road with headphones on with music so loud a friend walking on the opposite shoulder could hear it. She was also texting someone when the accident occurred, he said.

The driver had just turned from a side street onto Cobblestone Drive and was blinded by the sun, he said.

Deputies went back to the scene yesterday at the time of the accident and confirmed that the sun is directly in a driver’s eyes at that location at that time of day, Timm said.

It was “just a tragic accident,” Timm said. “Obviously, the pedestrian wasn’t paying attention and couldn’t hear and the driver was blinded by the sun.”

I’ll have more on this tragedy in tomorrow’s Free Lance-Star.

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