Marlysha Liddell, her husband, Paul, and their four-year-old daughter, Leilani, died Sunday afternoon in a fiery crash on Interstate 66 as they drove home to Manassas, Virginia, after attending church in Washington.
The Honda Pilot the family was riding in rear-ended a utility truck hauling oxygen tanks that had stopped on I-66 shortly after 4 p.m. Sunday, NBC Washington reports, citing Virginia State Police.
A Toyota 4Runner was also involved in the events leading up to the crash, police said. An early investigation found the SUV “had been forced out of” its lane and struck bollards separating the express lanes.
The 4Runner and the truck then came to rest in the highway’s right lane. The Honda Pilot struck the truck moments later and burst into flames, police said, adding that the two parents and their daughter died at the scene.
Police charged 55-year-old Walter R. Juarez Bautista of Virginia, who had been driving the 4Runner, and 45-year-old Jesus Huaman of Maryland, who was operating the truck, each with reckless driving.
Oxygen tanks like those the truck was hauling are classified as a hazardous material under federal law. Interstate 66 runs about 76 miles between I-81 near Middletown, Virginia, and Washington. Built with a limited number of lanes and, for decades, carpool restrictions during rush hour, it remains one of the busiest commuter routes linking Northern Virginia suburbs with the capital and is often congested during peak travel periods.
The Liddells lived in Manassas and traveled each Sunday to St. Augustine Church in Northwest Washington, founded in 1858 as the city’s first Black Catholic parish, to attend services with their congregation.
Marlysha Liddell worked as a civil rights attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice.
Leilani, who was born prematurely, was the couple’s miracle baby and had built a vocabulary her family and church considered advanced for her age. She was preparing to start pre-K this week.
Paul Liddell was known among those close to him for how openly he spoke about his love for his family. Those who knew the couple called Paul “the yin to his wife’s yang.”
Word of the crash reached the congregation soon after the family had driven away from the church.
Melinda Jennings, a church member, called the deaths “a major blow,” telling NBC Washington that “it’s going to be a very hard third Sunday and even beyond.”
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