A 25-year-old Gloucester woman died as the result of injuries suffered in a chain-reaction crash Thursday afternoon on Route 17 at the intersection of T.C. Walker Road, according to a Virginia State Police spokesperson.

Ashley N. Chapman died at the scene of the accident, said Corinne Geller of the VSP. At approximately 2 p.m. on Aug. 24, a tractor-trailer traveling south on Route 17 came upon stopping traffic and was unable to brake in time.

The tractor-trailer rear-ended a 1989 Chevrolet Beretta driven by Chapman. The impact of that crash pushed the Chevrolet into the back of a flatbed trailer being towed by a 2012 Ford F-250 truck.

The driver of tractor-trailer, a 41-year-old Newport News man, was charged with reckless driving. A passenger in the Chevrolet was transported to Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News for treatment of serious injuries.
The driver of the Ford, a 26-year-old Gloucester man, was not injured in the crash.

The Virginia State Police Chesapeake Division Crash Reconstruction Team responded to assist with the ongoing crash investigation, Geller said.

As a result of the accident, Route 17 southbound was closed near the intersection with T.C. Walker Road for several hours. Southbound traffic was detoured onto Route 17 northbound, then to Short Lane, then to T.C. Walker Road, where vehicles were able to take a left back onto Route 17 southbound. At about 7:30 that evening, the detour was lifted, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation.

This was the fourth motor vehicle fatality of 2023 in Gloucester County.