CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – Friends and relatives have identified the lone victim who died during a counter-protest Saturday as 32-year-old Heather Heyer, a paralegal.
Charlottesville Police Chief Alfred Thomas Jr. told reporters during a press conference Saturday the then-unidentified woman was crossing the street when she was struck. The vehicle was widely identified on social media as grey Dodge Challenger. Nineteen other individuals were injured.
The suspect driver, 20-year-old James Fields Jr., was arrested on suspicion of homicide. Multiple reports indicate Fields, an Ohio-native, was in Charlottesville to demonstrate during what was billed as a “Unite the Right” protest, involving white nationalists.
Heyer was a 2003 graduate of William Monroe High School in Stanardsville, VA and worked at Miller Law Group in Charlottesville, USA Today reports.
On Saturday, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a federal investigation into Saturday’s events is underway.