Nine family members including six children were tragically killed in a horror crash after their SUV flipped over into a canal — while none were wearing seatbelts.
The wreck occurred Monday night in Palm Beach County, Florida, at around 7:30pm, leaving just one sole survivor, Jorden Hall, 26, in critical condition in hospital.
The victims killed in the crash have now been named as Pamela Wiggins, 56, Leiana Alyse Hall, 30, Anyia Monique Lee Tucker, 21, Imani Hall, 8, Kamdien Edwards, 5, Yasire Smith, 5, Zaire Mack, 3, and Naleia Tucker, 1.
The police report, first obtained by WPTV, claimed that none of the ten victims were using ‘safety equipment’ inside the vehicle. Florida law mandates the use of seatbelts for all passengers, and booster seats for children under five.
The mother of Kamdien, Anntainette Edwards, told Local10 that the devastating wreckage is ‘like a bad dream.’
According to a crash report from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, the family were being driven by Pamela Wiggins in their 2023 Ford Explorer when the crash unfolded.
As they approached a corner, Wiggins failed to turn and collided with a guardrail. It is unclear why she lost control of the vehicle, and the crash is still under investigation.
The impact overturned the SUV and sent it flying into a nearby canal, and when first responders arrived on the scene only the vehicle’s wheels were visible.
Four of the family members were pronounced dead at the scene, and six others were raced to nearby hospitals.
Five of the victims died at the hospital, with only Hall, 26, surviving the horror. He has remained in a West Palm Beach hospital, where he is recovering with critical injuries.
Images of the crash site showed the guardrail was destroyed by the impact of the SUV, and crews were seen returning to the site days later to repair the damage.
Tributes have poured in for the victims, who were from several states but convened in Florida over the weekend to celebrate Wiggins’ mother’s 80th birthday, reports the Miami Herald.
An image shared to Wiggins’ Facebook page showed the family members enjoying an 70’s themed birthday party.
‘Just wanted to say thank to all my family that traveled to Florida for my mom’s 80th bday party,’ she captioned the post, adding that she was ‘so proud’ of her daughters and her ‘mom really enjoyed herself.’
Police said Wiggins was also readying to celebrate her 57th birthday, which would have fallen just a day after the crash.
Anntainette Edwards, whose five-year-old child was killed in the crash, said her son was excited to start kindergarten soon.
‘He was cheerful, funny, not scared of nothing, a daredevil. He was just a happy baby,’ she said.
Ryanne Noel, a former co-worker of Aniya Monique Lee Tucker, said she ‘developed a friendship’ with the victim while they were both living in Connecticut.
‘She was a bright young light of a soul she was a beautiful person and a wonderful mother to her baby girl. I cherished the time we spent together. We traveled together and had a good friendship,’ she told WPTV.
Noel added that Tucker was the mother of the one-year-old baby who also died in the crash.
Patricia Wiggins, the daughter of Pamela and sister of Leiana who were killed in the wreck, said in a heartbreaking Facebook post: ‘Lord, please wake me up from this nightmare.
‘Lord, I know you make no mistakes, but Lord, I’m having a hard time processing this one.’
The family has set up a GoFundMe to help pay for mounting funeral costs and other expenses from the tragedy.