“I keep telling everybody it’s in God hands…I’ve got to believe all of
my babies are in God’s hands.”
So spoke Joan Willis, a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother
living in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Still mourning the death of her
daughter and three grandchildren, Willis offered reporters words of
courage and endearment.
The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office identified the victims as
follows: Viola Smith, 41; her daughter Joan Smith, 22; her grandson
Jayden Smith, five weeks; and yet another relative, 3-year-old Darrell
Turner III. On May 25, 2011, the family’s vehicle reportedly broke
down in a lane of traffic on I-59 and was subsequently struck by a
tractor-trailer. The victims were rushed to a local children’s
hospital; the tractor-trailer driver was treated for unreported
injuries, while the family was regrettably reported dead on arrival.
Incidentally, the entire extended family moved to Tennessee after
their insurmountable degree of property damage due to Hurricane
Katrina. May this incident be a sad reminder that Mother Nature will
ultimately prove no match for the follies of man. The thoughts and
prayers of all of us at Ron Kim Law go out to the Smith family as well as all of those affected.
Read more at http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/05/family_survives_katrina_but_di.html