VIDEO: JSO officer\u2019s quick action rescues woman, 1-year-old from fiery carjacking crash<\/a><\/p>\nBody camera footage captured the desperate moments that followed, as Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Officer Almin Residovic raced against time.<\/p>\n
\u201cStay with me, stay with me,\u201d Residovic can be heard saying as he pulled Williams from the flames.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think me and you probably wouldn\u2019t even be talking right now,\u201d Williams told News4JAX, reflecting on the officer\u2019s actions. \u201cHonestly, I probably wouldn\u2019t even be here if he didn\u2019t do the things that he did.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Williams, a mother of two, including a two-week-old baby, the path to recovery has been marked by constant reminders of that night. After being rushed to the burn unit in Gainesville, she\u2019s now back home in Jacksonville, but daily life has become a series of challenges. <\/p>\n
Simple tasks like standing and walking are difficult hurdles. <\/p>\n
\u201cNot having transportation. I just had a baby. I have all these upcoming appointments and also with my face,\u201d Williams said. \u201cI don\u2019t even like looking at myself. I can\u2019t recognize myself anymore. It\u2019s painful. I can\u2019t go to sleep at night. I\u2019m just up with severe headaches.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been hell, honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet through the physical pain and emotional trauma, Williams has found strength in the eyes of her children \u2013 her 7-year-old and her newborn. She said their presence has become her anchor in the storm of recovery.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have been keeping me just with my head held high keeping me motivated and happy,\u201d Williams said. \u201cWhen those boys look at me and they still look at me as their mom. So I just thank God that I\u2019m able to still see their little smiles.\u201d<\/p>\n
JSO said officers arrested the suspect, 34-year-old Richard Younger, at the crash scene. He is facing multiple felony charges, including:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Carjacking<\/p>\n
\u2022 Leaving the Scene of a Crash without Rendering Aid<\/p>\n
\u2022 Aggravated Fleeing from Law Enforcement after a Crash<\/p>\n
\u2022 False Imprisonment of a Child Under 13 Years of Age<\/p>\n
\u201cI want the young man to know that I forgive him,\u201d Williams said. \u201cWe\u2019re all human. I\u2019m not sure what made him drive the car drastically like that that day, but I really do forgive him because everything happens for a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her perspective extends beyond her own trauma to the child who was in the stolen vehicle. <\/p>\n
\u201cI honestly think maybe it was meant to happen,\u201d she said about the car hitting her. \u201cI\u2019m not sure the toddler that young man had was even his child so maybe it was meant to happen so that way they could rescue the child.\u201d<\/p>\n
News of Williams\u2019 story reached her former supervisor, Joe Haynick, in Michigan. The two worked together virtually for four years. After seeing the bodycam footage of her rescue, he immediately started a GoFundMe to help with her recovery.<\/p>\n
\u201cLiterally my heart just fell out of my chest,\u201d Haynick said. \u201cIt was just extremely painful and shocking to see that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fundraiser aims to help Williams with medical expenses and transportation needs as she continues her recovery. Those interested in contributing can visit the GoFundMe page \u201cSupport Amber\u2019s Recovery After Tragic Accident.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s not about how much people donate, it\u2019s just the fact that they\u2019re willing to give,\u201d Haynick said. \u201cThose little amounts roll into something pretty nice that\u2019ll help Amber out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Amber Williams says the conversation was about dreams of a new home. It was a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":153862,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[74422,265,116,118,117,1415],"class_list":{"0":"post-155064","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-carjacking","9":"tag-crime","10":"tag-jacksonville","11":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","12":"tag-jacksonville-news","13":"tag-jacksonville-sheriffs-office"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}