Friends mourn woman killed by cruiser

A 61-year-old woman struck and killed by an on-duty Beverly police officer Saturday morning was a Baptist churchgoer, a square dancing enthusiast, and a breast cancer survivor, relatives and friends said.

Newton native Bonney Burns moved to Beverly about a decade ago, said her cousin Susan Vik of Cambridge.

Vik said Burns was a registered dietician who was semiretired. Burns worked part time for an online prescription drug company and picked up extra work at H&R Block during tax season, Vik said in a telephone interview. Burns spent much of her time square dancing, a hobby she developed while she was a student at Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio, Vik said.

Burns had no siblings or children and was divorced, Vik said.

"I'm just in shock," Vik said. "Like everybody, I just want to know what happened. It's really a strange thing."

Beverly Police Chief John Cassola did not return calls for comment yesterday.

Steve O'Connell, a spokesman for the Essex district attorney's office, also declined to comment on the investigation into the crash. O'Connell also said he is barred from discussing the investigation in general terms, including whether it is standard for authorities to test police officers for drugs or alcohol after on-the-job car accidents.

Beverly's mayor, William F. Scanlon Jr. , said last night that he does not know what caused the accident. On Sunday, he said he did not believe that mechanical problems caused Officer Stuart Merry to swerve across a lane of oncoming traffic before striking and killing Burns, who was in a car parked outside her home.

He said Ford Motor Co. checked Merry's cruiser for acceleration problems shortly after the vehicle was purchased and found none. Yesterday, Scanlon said that after talking with Cassola, he decided to take two other cars the department bought from Ford at the same time off the road.

Scanlon said Beverly police officers are routinely tested for drugs, but he did not indicate whether that was done after the crash.

A woman reached at the Merry home said the officer is "not contactable right now." He was in fair condition at Beverly Hospital on Saturday, the last time his condition was made public.

Heather Swan, Burns's upstairs neighbor, said she is upset about the accident and its aftermath, which she witnessed.

"All the neighbors came out to help out, to try to get them out of the vehicles," Swan said.

She said Burns was friendly and confided in her about her bout with breast cancer. "She did a lot of those women's conferences," Swan said. "She was always involved in something to help other people."

Ed Sullivan -- a friend of Burns's from the Riverside Squares, a Danvers-based square dancing club -- described her as quiet and kind.

"What a waste," he said of the accident.

Sullivan said Burns square-danced less often in recent years, after her bout with cancer.

Richard Osterberg, Burns's lawyer, said her father was a Baptist minister who instilled a strong sense of faith in his only child. He said she volunteered regularly with her congregation at the Newton Baptist Church and visited nursing homes to perform square dances for the elderly and infirm.

Suzanne Smalley can be reached at ssmalley@globe.com.