Truck kills Derry woman

DERRY – A pregnant woman was killed yesterday when she got out of her boyfriend's moving pickup truck and was hit, police said. Her baby was later delivered at Parkland Medical Center and flown to a Boston hospital.

Police said Tonya Wells, 24, was a passenger in her boyfriend's 2000 Chevy pickup truck around 2:45 p.m. For some reason, police said, she got out of the truck while Joseph Stanley, 24, was still driving east on Island Pond Road, in the area of Taylor Mill.

The truck hit Wells after she got out, police said, causing fatal injuries. Wells was rushed to Parkland Medical Center, where her nearly full-term baby was delivered. The infant was taken by helicopter to Boston. The baby's condition was unknown last night, police said.

Derry Police Capt. Vernon Thomas said investigators are unclear on why Wells exited the truck.

The incident happened on a rural stretch of Island Pond Road in front of farmland. The straightaway has a 35 mph speed limit.

Stanley has not been charged in the incident, Thomas said.

Investigators do not believe that speed or alcohol were factors in the crash, he said. Stanley was not injured in the crash and his truck was the only vehicle involved. Thomas said it was unclear how fast the truck was going.

"We have an investigation to do," he said.

Wells' last known address is 189 Rockingham Road in Derry. Stanley's last known address is 18 Cross St. in Salem, police said.

However, police said, the couple may have been staying at a campground outside Derry for the past several days. A woman who answered the phone at the Cross Street residence last night said everyone at the home was in shock.

Authorities blocked off a section of Island Pond Road for several hours yesterday as they investigated.

Police are asking anyone who might know anything about the incident to contact the Derry Police Department at 432-6111.