A young mother from Ohio was killed by carjackers when she tried to save her sleeping child.
Brave young mother dies trying to save her son
Ohio police reported that Alexa Stakely, 29, lost her life attempting to rescue her 6-year-old son from a carjacking that occurred early Thursday at White Oak Park Condominiums in Columbus.
At around 1:30 a.m., the young single mother went to pick up her son from a babysitter’s home after working at her night job to make ends meet.
She placed the sleeping boy in her Honda-CRV, left the car running, and returned to the house to gather his belongings. During this brief absence, two men tried to steal the vehicle.
Stakely shouted at the criminals to stop, informing them that her child was inside the car. When the perpetrators continued driving, she jumped onto the hood in an effort to get them to brake.
Unfortunately, she fell off the moving vehicle, sustaining injuries so severe that she later died at Mount Carmel East Hospital.
Witnesses recounted seeing two males fleeing from the abandoned vehicle, jumping a fence, and disappearing into another apartment complex as Stakely lay dying. The boy was later discovered unharmed and still asleep inside the car.
Authorities suspect these men were part of a group seen loitering around apartments in the area shortly before the incident. Upon confrontation, the group retreated further into the complex and out of sight.
“We believe there are multiple involved. We know that between the multiple suspects that we believe were involved, they absolutely know what they did,” Sgt. James Fuqua commented. “They know publicly at this point what has happened.”
The department revealed that the descriptions of two males in the group matched those of the attempted carjackers.
Police urged local residents to review their home security cameras, hoping to obtain valuable evidence to bring the young mother’s killers to justice.
Family of young mother calls for justice
Stakely was a speech-language pathologist in the preschool program at local elementary school.
The Canal Winchester Local Schools District, where she had been employed for five years, said she was “a great mom who was incredibly dedicated to her son.”
The district added, “Alexa was passionate about children and speech-language therapy. She was smart and compassionate, and she cared so much about helping children develop their ability to communicate.”
In addition to her primary job, she worked as a server at a local restaurant to make extra cash, which was where she was returning from the night of death.
Her younger brother, Hayden Swartz, described her as an “extremely amazing person who had a heart for kids and teaching kids, being in SLP and was just brilliant about her work.”
Swartz called on the men who ended her life to 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,” he remarked.
Mom sparks a 500 person riot
In a less-than stellar act of parenting, a Florida mother was arrested for allegedly inciting a riot involving up to 500 people at a skating rink.
The riot occurred after Tampa Bay area skating rink canceled her daughter’s 18th birthday party.
Authorities revealed that Stephanie Pedroso, 36, used her daughter’s Instagram account to rally people to the rink.
They allege that she sought revenge on the staff for canceling the private party, which had grown larger than the business originally agreed to.
Pedroso now faces charges of unlawful use of a cellphone, inciting a riot, and driving with a suspended or revoked license.
The rink said they required Pedroso to hire an off-duty officer for security, a condition of the contract she signed that she failed to meet.
Additionally, she violated the rink’s rules by reselling tickets and posting unauthorized advertisements.
Astro Skate owner Chris Maganias recounted that Pedroso became irate, using Instagram Live to urge people to cause a ruckus at the rink.
“We were within our rights to cancel her party and that’s what we did,” Maganias stated. “She came in, flipped out, cussed and screamed and posted nonsense about [coming] to the skating rink the next night.”
The video allegedly revealed Pedroso making violent threats and offering money for participation in the riot.
Pedroso reportedly said, “For y’all, if y’all still go up there, tear the f* out of them. I’ve got some money for y’all, and I’ll pay y’all a*.”
The nearly 500 person strong riot resulted in damage to five businesses, including a barber shop where a 16-year-old girl was thrown through a glass window, causing $1,200 in damages.
Authorities faced significant challenges dispersing the crowd, taking six hours to restore order. They arrested 23 adults and three minors as a result of the event.
At a press conference, Sheriff Chad Chronister blasted Pedroso. “Using social media to weaponize our youth is absolutely deplorable,” he said. “As a parent, I cannot fathom what went through this woman’s mind when she put lives at risk to provoke this mayhem.”
“This is a stark reminder of how quickly situations can spiral out of control and shows the importance of responsible behavior and the consequences of inciting violence.”
Pedroso could face up to five years in prison if convicted of starting a riot.
