TAMPA – After a fatal accident involving a seven-year-old and a pickup truck, a mother is left heartbroken.
The backstory:
The moments after Jessica Williams picked up her phone Sunday night are a blur, and likely always will be. “I (was) confused. I’m like, my baby?”
Jalaysia Capers, her cousin and two other children had been eager to get a drink from a store to go with dinner. They left the apartment they shared just before 8 p.m.
“I was like, okay, you can go ahead and go,” Williams said. “Everybody went. I said, y’all guys be careful. Make it to the store and come back. They never made it to store.”
Dig deeper:
FHP says three of the children were hit by a passing pickup truck. An 11-year-old and an 8-year-old recovered from their injuries. But Jalaysia, who her family called, “Baby,” passed away at the hospital. “She was such a sweet little girl,” said Williams. “Very respectful, so affectionate. When you met her, she didn’t want to shake your hand. She wanted to give you a hug.”
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Family members are gathering at a park on 18th Ave. Wednesday night to hold a balloon release in her honor. They’re hoping that being with their community can help them begin to manage the pain. “I just would like people to be around me in this time,” said Williams. “Because it hurts really, really bad.”
Jalaysia was a second-grader at IDEA Victory School and talked all the time about becoming a veterinarian. “She was a country girl,” Williams said. “She was born in Brunswick, GA. She was a Country Girl at heart.”
FHP interviewed the driver, but is calling the crash a horrible accident. Jessica says she would like to hear from the driver, just to get a complete picture of the moment that cost her so much.
The depth of her loss is only beginning to sink in. “One minute we tried to laugh with the memories of her,” said Williams. “The next minute we are breaking down, we console one another.”
What’s next:
The family is about to move into a new place, and will decorate a bedroom for her just the way she wanted.
The two other children who were hit have been released from the hospital.
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The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13 reporter Evan Axelbank.