NEWBERRY, SC- A woman was killed Tuesday afternoon after a tragic accident in the parking lot of a nursing home.
The incident happened at White Oak Manor Nursing facility in Newberry around 3:15 p.m.
Coroner Craig Newton says the woman, Virginia Ann Lawton, 69, of Chapin, S.C., was sitting in her car for a very short period of time before she “apparently put the vehicle in reverse gear and then for an unknown reason exited the vehicle and began walking to the back door area.”
Lawton tried to get back into the vehicle after the car began to roll backwards.
Coroner Newton says at that point “Lawton attempted to re-enter the vehicle to put it in park, but while doing so… [she] was knocked to the ground by the open driver’s door.”
The vehicle rolled over Lawton, trapping her, according to Newton.
Lawton was taken to Newberry Memorial Hospital and died shortly after arriving. She died due to injuries sustained in the accident, Newton says.
An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday morning. The accident remains under the investigation of the Newberry City Police Department and the Newberry County Coroner’s Office.
