VA Police Say Handcuffed Teen Shot Herself at Traffic Stop

A 19-year-old woman involved in a July 2018 traffic stop committed suicide after shooting herself through the mouth while her hands were cuffed behind her back, Virginia police say.

Sarah Wilson and her boyfriend were arrested during a stop in Chesapeake after officers allegedly found drugs in the 1996 Lexus the couple were driving. Police said they handcuffed Wilson and, while attempting to apprehend her boyfriend, 27-year-old Holden Medlin, he became combative and ran away from the scene.

Officers then reportedly left Wilson handcuffed with her hands behind her back as they ran to catch Medlin. While unattended, police say, she was able to grab a weapon out of the Lexus, "contorted" her body and shot herself through the mouth.

A medical examiner confirmed last week that Wilson died of a suicide -- but friends and family dispute the finding, Fox News reports.

Wilson's boyfriend, Medlin, was reportedly being monitored by police for some time before the arrest. When officers approached his car the day of the incident, he allegedly swallowed a "golf-ball sized-bag" of an unknown substance. Police then found 11 oxycodone pills, a syringe and other drug paraphernalia, a rifle and ammunition.

He was later charged with possession of oxycodone, possession of suboxone, possession of paraphernalia, possession of a firearm with a schedule I or II drug, fleeing from a law enforcement officer, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.