Marlysha Liddell, her husband, Paul, and their four-year-old daughter, Leilani, died Sunday afternoon in a fiery crash on Interstate 66 as they drove home to Manassas, Virginia, after attending church in Washington.

The Honda Pilot the family was riding in rear-ended a utility truck hauling oxygen tanks that had stopped on I-66 shortly after 4 p.m. Sunday, NBC Washington reports, citing Virginia State Police.

A Toyota 4Runner was also involved in the events leading up to the crash, police said. An early investigation found the SUV “had been forced out of” its lane and struck bollards separating the express lanes.

The 4Runner and the truck then came to rest in the highway’s right lane. The Honda Pilot struck the truck moments later and burst into flames, police said, adding that the two parents and their daughter died at the scene.

Police charged 55-year-old Walter R. Juarez Bautista of Virginia, who had been driving the 4Runner, and 45-year-old Jesus Huaman of Maryland, who was operating the truck, each with reckless driving.

Oxygen tanks like those the truck was hauling are classified as a hazardous material under federal law. Interstate 66 runs about 76 miles between I-81 near Middletown, Virginia, and Washington. Built with a limited number of lanes and, for decades, carpool restrictions during rush hour, it remains one of the busiest commuter routes linking Northern Virginia suburbs with the capital and is often congested during peak travel periods.

The Liddells lived in Manassas and traveled each Sunday to St. Augustine Church in Northwest Washington, founded in 1858 as the city’s first Black Catholic parish, to attend services with their congregation.

Marlysha Liddell worked as a civil rights attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice.

Leilani, who was born prematurely, was the couple’s miracle baby and had built a vocabulary her family and church considered advanced for her age. She was preparing to start pre-K this week.

Paul Liddell was known among those close to him for how openly he spoke about his love for his family. Those who knew the couple called Paul “the yin to his wife’s yang.”

Word of the crash reached the congregation soon after the family had driven away from the church.

Melinda Jennings, a church member, called the deaths “a major blow,” telling NBC Washington that “it’s going to be a very hard third Sunday and even beyond.”

The Virginia Tech Hokies defeated the Old Dominion Monarchs 44-21 on Saturday to improve to 2-0. The game wasn’t as close as the score indicated, but it gave head coach James Franklin plenty of ammunition to motivate his team ahead of this week’s game at Maryland.

The Hokies go on the road for the first time in the Franklin era, facing a team that he knows quite well. Franklin was Penn State’s head coach from 2014-25. During that time, Franklin’s Nittany Lions went 9-2 against the Terrapins, with six of those wins coming by 30 or more points. Maryland’s only two wins in that era came in 2014 and 2020. In the past four meetings, Penn State won 31-14, 30-0, 51-15, and 44-7. In 2017, PSU defeated Maryland 66-3, and in 2019, shut out the Terps 59-0.

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After that 44-7 win in 2024, Franklin drew the ire of Maryland coach Mike Locksley. Locksley angrily confronted Franklin as the coaches shook hands.

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The Cowboys’ first taste of Big 12 competition will come at night in Morgantown.

The Big 12 on Monday announced that Oklahoma State’s Sept. 26 Big 12 opener against West Virginia will kick at 6 p.m. (Central) down the Country Roads.

It’ll be the Cowboys second consecutive night game, as the Pokes are set to tangle with Murray State at the same time this upcoming weekend. OSU’s first two games of the year came in the afternoon and at 11 a.m. (but delay until the afternoon), respectively.

The Mountaineers will also get their first evening kick of the year in this weekend when they travel to Charlotte to play Virginia at Bank of America Stadium.

WVU is 2-0 this season – their second of Rich Rodriguez’s second tenure. The Mountaineers opened with a 31-24 win against Coastal Carolina before thumping UT-Martin 52-7 this past weekend.

The Mountaineers are led by OU transfer quarterback Michael Hawkins and Jax State transfer rusher Cam Cook. Through his first two games with the Mountaineers, Hawkins has completed 76% of his 21 attempts for 287 yards, three touchdowns and no picks. He’s also WVU’s leading rusher with 199 yards and three more scores, while Cook has ran for 194 yards and three touchdowns of his own.

These teams last met in 2024, a game the Mountaineers won 38-14 in Stillwater, but WVU hasn’t beaten the Cowboys on home soil since 2013, as the Cowboys have won five in a row in Morgantown.