Phoenix woman who lost child custody killed after jumping from pickup onto busy freeway

Phoenix woman who lost child custody dies on I-17

PHOENIX — Authorities say a 36-year-old woman who had just lost custody of her children apparently committed suicide Monday by jumping out of her sister’s pickup truck on busy Interstate 17 in Phoenix.

Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman Officer Robert Bailey says Brenda Suzanne Ownby had just left a court hearing and was riding in the back seat just north of downtown with her sister and mother. The women told officers Ownby was very quiet and somber, and then they heard the door open and she was gone.

Bailey says Ownby was struck by a minivan, a small white passenger car and a utility truck and died immediately.