Virginia: Bridge dedicated to Slain Virginia State trooper

A bridge honoring the life of a Virginia State Police trooper killed on duty has been designated the Trooper Jacqueline Vernon Memorial Bridge. The Interstate 395 Bridge over South Glebe Road is in memory of the slain trooper, officials said.

On August 16, 1988, 32-year-old Vernon stopped a vehicle along northbound I-395 when she was struck and killed by a commuter bus. The crash happened between the Shirlington and Glebe Road exits. Officials say she was the department’s 42 death in the line of duty, but the first female and first black Virginia State Police trooper to be killed on duty.

Vernon is survived by a sister, two brothers and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.

She joined the Virginia State Police in January 1984. After graduating from the Academy in Richmond, officials said Vernon's first patrol assignment was in Northern Virginia where she remained for the next four years of her state police career. Before joining the state police, officials said she had also served her country in the U.S. Army.