NEW ORLEANS — A New Orleans family is preparing to bury three loved ones after a trip to a high school graduation ended in a fatal car crash.
Victims include both parents and a 16-year-old who was high school student at McMain. Another teen is still in the hospital after surgery, with multiple broken bones. Family members are making sure the surviving children will be taken care of.
They say it is still unclear exactly why, and how the crash happened. They think the driver may have had an overcorrection that caused the car to flip multiple times.
What is clear, is that the teens' aunt, who is a social worker, is making sure that no matter how broken they are, they will go on to do great things in life.
May 24 was supposed to be a big day for the Jackson family. They were on their way from New Orleans to Dallas to see their oldest son graduate from high school. He was staying with his aunt.
“We got a big sign to surprise Nehemiah with for his high school graduation. I got tee shirts made with all their names on it like, proud dad, proud mom,” said Tyra Mitchell, who lives in Dallas.
But, when they were one hour and 45 minutes away from Dallas, around Tyler, Texas, the family was in a serious car wreck.
“I ran down the street to grieve, because I didn't want to grieve in front of my nephew, because it was his day, and he was looking for his parents. I went through the graduation, because he deserved to walk across the stage. He knew there was an accident, but he didn't know the severity of it,” she remembers.
The lives of three family members were taken: Tyra's sister, Shuntell Magee, 37, an office manager about to graduate from college herself and who dreamed of owning her own home and business; Mikey Jackson, 44, who worked for the RTA, and their daughter, Abby Jackson, 16, a student at McMain. Two of their younger teen children survived. Samyrah,15, is in a Dallas hospital with multiple injuries and will need 24-hour care for a while, and Khaleb,13, is now healing at home with his aunt Tyra.
“Khaleb is very resilient. As a matter of fact, he cried in the hospital. He has told me, ‘Mommy and Abby would not want us to suffer, TT.’ And he tells me every day, ‘Looks like someone needs a hug.’”
New graduate, Nehemiah is angry, according to Mitchell.
“He does not understand why his family was chosen for this, and it just really diminished his graduation, everything. His mom was so excited,” said Mitchell.
Tyra is on her own, taking care of her nephews and niece. Cousins are taking care of her.
“I feel like I'm just here to support her, you know. Trust me, we all cried, because it's an unbelievable situation. Like, I never thought I would bury my little cousin,” said Mitchell’s first cousin, Geniecesa Gilchrease.
Tyra says Abby was an angel, and had just gotten a summer job as a NORD camp counselor. She wants to keep the children's dreams alive and start a foundation in Abby's name.
“I'm just asking God to give me revelation on what that is, so that I can be a service to people who are grieving, or little girls that need help. Something great has got to come out of this. It was devastating,” added Mitchell.
The three funerals are Friday morning at Charbonnet Labat Funeral Home. Instead of flowers, the family asks that you visit the Go Fund Me page here: