COLUMBUS, OH - A Columbus, Ohio mother is dead after she leaped atop her speeding car attempting to stop a thief from stealing it with her six-year-old child asleep inside. She was thrown from the erratically driven vehicle and sustained a fatal head injury.
A single mother and OSU graduate, Alexa Stakely, 29, had reportedly just picked up her son from her babysitter according to police, and had her son sleeping in the car with the engine running while she ran back in to retrieve an item she left behind. She emerged from the babysitter's home and saw her car backing out of the driveway, according to WSYX. Witnesses said they could hear her screaming for her child.
Stakely reportedly threw herself upon the hood of the moving vehicle and attempted to get the car thief to stop. Instead, the driver began to drive erratically, throwing her from the vehicle, ultimately causing her to suffer a severe head injury. When Stakely was found, she was rushed by paramedics to Mount Carmel East Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Responding officers found the six-year-old still sleeping in the abandoned vehicle, left at the scene by the assailants.
The outlet reported that detectives said two males were spotted fleeing past Stakely as she lay wounded in the road toward her vehicle before turning and running to the north, according to a police press release.
Columbus Police Sgt. Joe Albert told reporters, "We always tell people, 'Don't leave your car running ... don't leave kids in your vehicle unattended.' This one, I'm not gonna armchair quarterback a mother trying to protect her son. It's just a tragic incident all around."
According to the Columbus Division of Police report, "The males continued running northbound, were observed jumping a fence and disappeared into a neighboring apartment complex. Earlier that morning, surveillance video caught a group of males looking into apartments in the area of Castenea Way. When confronted, the males proceeded eastbound further into the complex and out of view. Two of these males matched the description of the males who were seen running past Stakely after she had been struck."
The division added, "Detectives are asking anyone with video of the incident itself, or persons loitering in the area, to send it to the URL below or to use the QR code provided. The attached maps shows the areas and apartment complexes the detectives are specifically interested in.
Anyone with information regarding this incident, is asked to contact Detective Lemmon at (614) 645-2558 or RALemmon@ColumbusPolice.org or to call Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at (614) 461-TIPS (8477). Detective Lemmon is the lead detective on the case and is being assisted by Detective Johnson."
A single mother and OSU graduate, Alexa Stakely, 29, had reportedly just picked up her son from her babysitter according to police, and had her son sleeping in the car with the engine running while she ran back in to retrieve an item she left behind. She emerged from the babysitter's home and saw her car backing out of the driveway, according to WSYX. Witnesses said they could hear her screaming for her child.
Stakely reportedly threw herself upon the hood of the moving vehicle and attempted to get the car thief to stop. Instead, the driver began to drive erratically, throwing her from the vehicle, ultimately causing her to suffer a severe head injury. When Stakely was found, she was rushed by paramedics to Mount Carmel East Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Responding officers found the six-year-old still sleeping in the abandoned vehicle, left at the scene by the assailants.
The outlet reported that detectives said two males were spotted fleeing past Stakely as she lay wounded in the road toward her vehicle before turning and running to the north, according to a police press release.
Columbus Police Sgt. Joe Albert told reporters, "We always tell people, 'Don't leave your car running ... don't leave kids in your vehicle unattended.' This one, I'm not gonna armchair quarterback a mother trying to protect her son. It's just a tragic incident all around."
According to the Columbus Division of Police report, "The males continued running northbound, were observed jumping a fence and disappeared into a neighboring apartment complex. Earlier that morning, surveillance video caught a group of males looking into apartments in the area of Castenea Way. When confronted, the males proceeded eastbound further into the complex and out of view. Two of these males matched the description of the males who were seen running past Stakely after she had been struck."
The division added, "Detectives are asking anyone with video of the incident itself, or persons loitering in the area, to send it to the URL below or to use the QR code provided. The attached maps shows the areas and apartment complexes the detectives are specifically interested in.
Anyone with information regarding this incident, is asked to contact Detective Lemmon at (614) 645-2558 or RALemmon@ColumbusPolice.org or to call Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at (614) 461-TIPS (8477). Detective Lemmon is the lead detective on the case and is being assisted by Detective Johnson."
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