A mother was killed Thursday while trying to stop two men from stealing her SUV while her 6-year-old slept inside, police in Columbus, Ohio announced.
Alexa Stakely, a 29-year-old speech pathologist at a local school, had just finished a shift at her second job as waitress and had gone to pick up her son from his babysitter, according to a police press release.
Stakely put her son in her SUV and started the vehicle before realizing she’d forgotten something, and back to the babysitter’s home, according to a police press release. As she returned to her car, she saw it backing out onto the road and ran towards it.
She was hit by the SUV and “thrown onto the pavement,” according to the release. Police discovered her lying in the road and suffering from “traumatic injuries” at about 1:30 a.m. on Thursday, and she was pronounced dead at 8:43 that same morning.
The SUV was “driven through the apartment complex” before being abandoned nearby, according to the release. Stakely’s son was found safe and asleep inside the car.
Police said two men were seen running past an injured Stakely lying in the road and into a neighboring apartment complex, according to the press release. Surveillance video from earlier in the day showed a group of men looking into apartments nearby. Two of the men in the footage matched the description of the men who ran past Stakely, police said.
Canal Winchester Schools, where Stakely worked, said in a statement posted on Facebook that the school is deeply saddened by Stakely’s death.
“She was a great mom who was incredibly dedicated to her son,” the statement read. “Ms. Stakely made a difference in the lives of the students and families she worked with and will be missed by so many in our community and beyond.”
Stakely’s younger brother, Hayden Swartz, told local news station WBNS that he’s hoping the suspects turn themselves in.
“Do what is right. Justice needs to be served and people need to learn their lesson that there’s law in this community and in this world,” Swartz said.
