JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The mother of a 14-year-old girl who died and her 17-year-old brother who was seriously hurt in a crash Monday night on I-95 is sharing her grief.
"I'm hurt, I'm torn, I'm lost," Kenyatta Williams, the teenagers' mother, said.
According to Williams, 14-year-old Kmiya Norris was killed in the crash. Her brother, 17-year-old Kiyon Newton, was driving.
Williams said Kiyon called her after his sedan hit a pothole on Golfair Boulevard and shortly after made a strange sound and stopped in the center lane of I-95 South.
"I called back and I said, 'Shy' and she said, 'no mama this is 'Mya' I said, 'Mya does Shy got the flashers on' and she said, 'yes ma'am' and I said, 'Kya your Daddy is on the way,' she said, 'ok.'" That was the last time that I spoke to my baby," Williams said.
Shortly after that call, a woman driving an SUV crashed into the back of the car, causing it to catch on fire, according to a report from the Florida Highway Patrol.
Norris was pronounced dead at the scene, while Newton was taken to the hospital in serious condition. He was able to call his mom in the aftermath of the accident.
"A strange number called my phone on the other end was my son screaming and all I could hear him say was, 'Mama somebody hit us and the car exploded. I can't get Maya' he said, 'Mama I can't get Maya out," Williams said.
Kiyon is recovering in the ICU at a hospital in Gainesville.
"If I've never felt pain, this is true pain," Williams said.
Through the pain, Williams said she is thankful for the good Samaritan who pulled her son out of the burning car.
"I'm forever grateful for him because if it wasn't for him, I could have been burying two kids and not one," Williams said.
Williams is alone in a desert of sorrow, but her tears fill her glass half full as memories of Kmiya dancing and always being by her side keep Williams going.
"A day didn't go by my baby would look at me and she would always say 'mama you're my best friend, I never had a friend mama you was my best friend,'" Williams said.
The driver of the SUV, a 54-year-old Jacksonville woman, had minor injuries, according to the report.
