A 26-year-old Virginia man was taken into custody and charged with involuntary manslaughter three months after police said he struck and killed a young woman as he was driving a car while working as a hotel valet. The man was indicted by a grand jury in Richmond, Virginia. After his arraignment in Richmond Circuit Court, he posted a $10,000 bond and was released. He is due to appear at a hearing on Feb. 27.

The fatal accident occurred on Oct. 28, 2011, when the man was driving a hotel guest's car too fast in inclement weather and slammed into the 23-year-old woman on a sidewalk, police said. She was walking on North Fifth Street after meeting friends at a nearby bar.

Witnesses had reported to prosecutors that the man was driving the car at about 30 mph. He has since been terminated from his job with the parking company that provides valet services to the hotel.

The victim was a recent graduate from Virginia Commonwealth University and aspired for a career in writing. She met the man who was to become her husband at the same bar she visited just before the accident. She worked as a technical writer at the time of her death but hoped to become a journalist.

The driver twice has been convicted of driving more than 10 mph over the speed limit. A charge of driving with a suspended license against him was dismissed in 2004. With criminal charges filed, a conviction could help strengthen a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the victim's family, if that is the path they want to take.

Source: Richmond Times Dispatch, "Former valet for Hilton Garden Inn charged in pedestrian death near hotel," Mark Bowes, Jan. 26, 2012