ATLANTA -- 11Alive has learned the name of a third person who was in the vehicle when a prominent Atlanta businesswoman was shot and killed.
Diane McIver died after being shot while riding in a Ford Expedition near Piedmont Park on Sept. 25.
McIver was the president of Corey Airport Services, a company that provides advertising in airports in the U.S. Her husband, Claude "Tex" McIver, is an attorney with the law firm Fisher and Phillips, and is on the advisory committee of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Gun Violence.
An email sent to employees at Corey Airport Services said that Diane's best friend, a woman referred to as Dani Jo, was in the car when the fatal incident took place. Sources confirm to 11Alive's Valerie Hoff that Dani Jo was the driver of the SUV.
While police have released few details as to what happened that night, family friend and spokesperson Bill Crane provided more information to 11Alive.
According to Crane, the incident began on Edgewood Avenue. Tex McIver said that the three didn't feel safe after several people approached their vehicle, Crane said. Diane McIver handed her husband a gun from a front seat console as her friend drove through them toward Midtown, according to Crane's account.
Tex McIver, who was in the back seat of the vehicle, then dozed off and at some point near Piedmont Park, the gun discharged, firing a bullet through the seat and into his wife's back, Crane said. They then drove to Emory Hospital on Clifton Road, where Diane McIver died in surgery.
Crane said that McIver has no recollection of pulling the trigger. Family friends said they incident is a tragic accident. The McIvers had divided their time between their Buckhead home and their Eatonton ranch.
Atlanta police have not confirmed the name of the third person in the vehicle, or that Tex McIver was holding the gun when it went off. They say the incident remains under investigation.
Funeral arrangements for Diane Mciver are pending.
PHOTOS | Diane McIver memorial images
