Channing Quinichett lived for brightening the days of her family and friends, but in the blink of an eye, their lives changed forever.
Quinichett, 21, a senior early childhood development major, was driving on the outer loop of the Beltway Wednesday on her way to a prenatal massage – she was five months pregnant – when her car was struck by a stray tire, crushing the roof and windshield of her Honda Civic. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to a Maryland State Police press release, the wheel detached from a delivery truck while being towed on the Beltway. The wheel rolled across the lanes of the outer loop and bounced off of the cement divider, causing it to cross over to the other side of the highway.
The tire continued to roll across the inner loop until it hit the right front corner of a Freightliner tractor-trailer. The impact caused the tire to fly back across the median and land on the roof of Quinichett’s car.
No charges have been filed in what police are calling a “weird series of events.”
Quinichett was born in Washington and raised in nearby Montgomery County. She attended Col. Zadok Magruder High School where she was a member of the Pom Squad.
On this campus, Quinichett was an active member of the Alpha Theta Gamma Multicultural Sorority Inc.
Quinichett’s younger sister, Devin Quinichett, said after graduating from the university this May, she was going to be a teacher.
“I know she was interested in teaching preschool-aged children,” senior accounting major Minerva Garcia said. Garcia had known Quinichett since high school and considered Quinichett to be her best friend.
Many of those close to Quinichett said her life was taken too soon.
“She was my best friend,” Devin said. “She was my sister. She was the type of person to be there for anyone. Every interaction she had with people was positive.”
Devin said she was the last person to talk to her sister before the accident, and that the two had decided on a name for the baby no more than five minutes before the collision. It was going to be Reagan Elizabeth, she said.
“I don’t really know how to describe her,” Garcia said. “She just emitted this positive light. It really feels like a part of me has died. I think we lost a phenomenal person.”
Funeral services for Quinichett will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday at the Church of the Redeemer in Gaithersburg. A candlelight vigil for Quinichett is being organized on the campus, though a date and time have not yet been determined.
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