SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ University of California, Davis officials said Wednesday that a postdoctoral researcher in the university's plant biology department was killed Tuesday in Ethiopia when the vehicle she was riding in was stoned by protesters.
Sharon Gray was in the East African nation to attend a meeting related to her research, according to the university.
A UC Davis news release said the circumstances of Gray's death were unclear. But Andy Fell, a university spokesman, confirmed that Gray was the American woman who was reported killed when stones were hurled at her vehicle on the outskirts of Ethiopia's capital city, Addis Ababa, on Tuesday.
According to news reports, crowds have attacked other vehicles since a stampede at a weekend protest killed at least 55 people. The protests have centered on land and political rights in Ethiopia.
Another member of the plant biology department who was traveling with Gray was not injured and is headed home, officials said.
University officials said Gray, 31, was attending a meeting to discuss the next steps in a project she was involved in with the Netherlands Institute of Ecology and other charitable organizations.
She had been at UC Davis since 2013, Fell said. He said Gray's husband is also a university employee.
The U.S. State Department is assisting in returning Gray's body to her family.
