Doreen Waddell, 36; British Vocalist Sang With Soul II Soul

Doreen Waddell, 36, a former vocalist with the influential British dance band Soul II Soul, died Friday after being struck by three cars on a highway in Shoreham, England.

Police said it appeared that Waddell, the mother of a 4-year-old boy, had been running from a supermarket after being accused of shoplifting. Goods from the store were found scattered across the highway. Waddell had recently been fined for shoplifting at a Woolworth’s.

Waddell, who used the stage name Do’reen, sang on Soul II Soul’s best-selling 1989 album “Club Classics Volume I” and was lead vocalist on the songs “Feel Free” and “Happiness.”

The singer had not been active in the music industry for several years.

“She wasn’t really earning the sort of money that she had done, but she didn’t let that get her down,” Annie Ingham, a neighbor, told the Daily Telegraph.

“You have to remember she had been a very successful singer who had appeared on television ... and then suddenly it was all gone. She never resented that, but it didn’t mean life was easy.”