JAMES CITY COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) — The brother of a woman who was killed in a crash last Tuesday in James City County says a dangerous intersection is what caused it.
Chris Manns told 10 On Your Side that the intersection of Old Stage Road and Fieldstone Parkway is to blame for the crash that took the life of his sister, Melissa Delano.
Last Tuesday night, Delano, 44, had just picked up her daughter from a neighborhood and was trying to turn left onto Old Stage Road when a pickup truck hit her going the other way.
Delano’s other brother, David Manns, said paramedics arrived on scene and started CPR to save her life.
“And to me that was a good sign,” David Manns said. “OK, compressions are good. But then we found out that they had been doing compressions for 40 minutes.”
Unfortunately, she died at the scene.
David Manns told 10 On Your Side he wishes he could’ve talked to his sister one more time before she passed.
So, last night, he called her phone to leave her one last message.
“Just that I love her, and I miss her and that I hope wherever she is, she’s happy,” David Manns said. “And we’ll take care of her three kids and her husband.”
Chris Manns said his sister had a heart of gold.
They held a celebration of life for her and people from Florida, Maine and even Canada showed up to pay their respects and share the best memories they had of her.
Chris Manns said that because of how much she was loved, the tragedy of her death has affected everyone, including her youngest child, a six-year-old girl.
“What do you say when a six-year-old tells you, like when she found out, ‘I want to be dead too so I can be with mommy.’ What do you say to that,” he asked through tears.
Authorities said neither alcohol nor speed were factors in the crash.
Melissa’s family said they don’t blame the driver, rather the intersection itself.
Chris Manns said the intersection is dangerous with the combination of traffic and two lanes merging into one.
“There’s so many cars going down there at high rates of speed where you have to like really put your foot down on the pedal just to get across those lanes,” he said.
According to a James City County crime analyst, there have been 14 crashes at that intersection since 2019 — two of those fatal.
Chris Manns said many people have asked for a stop sign, or even a roundabout, to make the area safer.
A James City County official told 10 On Your Side they’ve worked with the Virginia Department of Transportation to lower the speed limit on a section of Old Stage Road.
But Chris Manns is pleading with them to do something more.
“It’s not working,” he said. “It needs to change; something has to change.”
I reached out to VDOT to ask if they’ve make any changes to the intersection with safety in mind.
VDOT, in a statement to 10 On Your Side, said:
VDOT takes every roadway fatality seriously and conducts a comprehensive investigation to assess road safety after every fatal crash that occurs on a VDOT-maintained roadway to determine if roadway improvements are necessary at that location.
For last week’s crash, we will perform this field review once the crash report is available from the police department. Until the official police report has been released, we are not yet able to investigate the factors and circumstances of this crash and determine if any further steps are warranted.
If you would like to help Melissa Delano’s family during their difficult time, see a GoFundMe page set up to help.
