First-date night turns to tragedy for family

Killeen woman hit by car while standing in road taking photos

Friday night was supposed to be special for Vanessa Doctor's son, Richard. The 17-year-old and two friends had saved up for months and rented a limousine to take their girlfriends to dinner and a movie.

But the night of Richard's first date became the night his mother died.

Vanessa Doctor, 40, of Killeen was standing in the road outside her home in the 3000 block of Zephyr Road at about 8 p.m. taking pictures of the group when she was struck by a car. Hours later she was pronounced dead.

"Vanessa was in a lot of pictures; she wasn't usually the one taking them," her brother, Victor Doctor, said Saturday. "She had a lot of friends, and she will be missed."

Her friends and family said she had been looking forward to her only child's first date.

"That kid was her heart,"' said Amanda Rivers, one of Doctor's neighbors. "Her boy's first date was all she could talk about (Friday)."

Doctor had stepped into the residential roadway to take a wide angle photo when she was hit, said David Orr, an investigator with the Killeen Police Department. The driver of the car, Sharon Cochran, 35, was uninjured.

Cochran could not be reached for comment.

Doctor was wearing dark clothing and was standing in an area with no lighting, Orr said. The road's posted speed limit is 30 mph. Police declined to say whether Cochran was driving the speed limit.

No charges have been filed, but police are still investigating, Orr said Saturday.

Doctor, a retired Air Force electronics specialist, was taken to Darnall Army Community Hospital, where she was pronounced dead late Friday. Details of her injuries were unavailable.

Doctor's son, a Killeen High School junior, and his friends had saved money from after-school jobs, including work in a fast-food restaurant, to pay for the rented limousine, neighbors said. The boys were going to pick up their dates for a meal and then go to a movie.

Arrangements were pending at Crawford-Bowers Funeral Home.

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