A mother was tragically killed in Columbus, Ohio, after she threw herself onto the hood of her car in an attempt to stop carjackers from driving away with her sleeping child in the backseat.
???? HEARTBREAKING: Her brothers said she was extremely dedicated to her job as a speech and language pathologist at Canal Winchester Schools.
READ: https://t.co/fkuRHdqJb2 pic.twitter.com/uPPOS0YRII— NBC4 Columbus (@nbc4i) July 12, 2024
Alexa Stakely, a 29-year-old speech and language pathologist at Winchester Trail Elementary School, had just picked up her six-year-old son from a babysitter’s home on Blue Knoll Drive on July 11 at 1:30 a.m. after leaving her second job as a waitress. The mother put her sleeping child into his car seat and returned to the babysitter’s home to quickly grab something when one of the carjackers jumped into the driver’s side of her idling vehicle.
As the vehicle began to drive off, Stakely ran and threw herself onto the car to prevent the criminal from taking her son. Stakely reportedly suffered a fatal head injury during her heroic efforts to rescue her child.
According to the Daily Mail, two other suspects were following the vehicle while the carjacker drove. The car was later found abandoned in a nearby parking lot with the child, who was not injured, still inside.
Columbus police released new details in its investigation into the death of Alexa Stakely during a carjacking and believe there are three suspects.
DETAILS: https://t.co/nXCof59haG pic.twitter.com/TS8vAWb7uC— NBC4 Columbus (@nbc4i) July 17, 2024
Columbus Police have released bodycam footage of the moment they discovered the child inside the vehicle unharmed, where they could be heard asking the boy for information about the men who stole his mother’s vehicle.
NEW: Ohio preschool teacher was killed trying to stop a carjacker from stealing a vehicle with her son inside
Alexa Stakely, 29, a speech-language pathologist, threw herself onto the hood of her vehicle as the thief sped away
Stakely had put her sleeping son into her Honda CR-V… pic.twitter.com/jFOHgQRqV0
— Unlimited L's (@unlimited_ls) July 13, 2024
According to an X post from the Columbus Police’s official account, detectives are asking that anyone with “video of the incident itself, or persons loitering in the area” to immediately contact law enforcement. The post provided several methods of contacting the police via text, call, email or their website.
Detectives are asking anyone with video of the incident itself, or persons loitering in the area, to send it via this website https://t.co/PVEHEbgW9Z or contact Detective Lemmon at (614) 645-2558 or [email protected] pic.twitter.com/pAjqt9jnWY
— Columbus Division of Police (@ColumbusPolice) July 11, 2024
A vigil was held for Stakely outside of the school where she had worked for the past five years. Friends and loved ones spoke in honor of Stakely, while parents of students taught by Stakely spoke about the positive impact she had on their children and their families as a whole.
Stakely’s brother, Braedyn Price, also spoke to a local news station during the vigil, showing off his new tattoo in honor of his sister and telling the reporter: “I think the majority of us just can’t even believe it’s real, and it’s just gonna take some time. She was my best friend, and I’m going to miss her a lot. It’s just, it’s very hard to lose someone like that.”
