Vigil remembers East Palatka crash victims

2 children, teenage boy, young woman dead after head-on collision

PALATKA, Fla. – A candlelight vigil was held Monday evening to remember four people who died in a head-on crash in East Palatka.

Family and friends gathered at Booker Park in Palatka for the 7 p.m. service, during which they held hands, prayed and sang songs.

Loved ones told News4Jax that 21-year-old Darikka Word; her 22-month-old son, Jacquez Johnson Jr.; and Word's boyfriend and the child's father, 17-year-old Jacquez Johnson Sr., were killed Sunday evening in a wreck on U.S. 17 near State Road 207.

"It really hasn't sunk in yet," said Beverly Canty, Johnson Sr.'s grandmother. "It’s a great loss, a great loss, because my great-grandson, he would call me on FaceTime and we were very close and I saw them every day.”

The Florida Highway Patrol said Monday that a 4-year-old girl who was in the same car died at a hospital. Family members identified her as Forever Hightower.

“It’s a day-by-day process. It’s minute-by-minute for me. I may have a good second right now and then, the next, I may walk off and my whole world is crumbled because, if anybody knows, she was one of my worlds," said Latonia Hightower, Forever's grandmother. "I’m just trying to get past every second of this moment.”

Hightower said that, although her granddaughter's life was taken too soon, her vibrant personality will live forever. 

“She lived her life. Every day she was full of smiles," Hightower said. "There was not a day that you could come and she was not happy.”

According to the Highway Patrol report, a Kia Optima was heading north on U.S. 17 just before 6:30 p.m. Sunday when, for unknown reasons, it veered across the road and into the path of a southbound GMC Yukon.

All four people who died in the crash were riding in the Kia, and a fifth person in the Kia -- whom family members identified as Johnson Sr.'s 15-year-old brother, Jaiden Nealey -- was injured.

Johnson Sr.'s family said Neeley was in the hospital Monday, recovering from serious injuries. Family members said he will have a long road to recovery, physically and mentally, as he lost his family in the crash.

Balloons were left at the scene of the crash.

According to the FHP report, everyone in the Kia was wearing a seat belt or was in a child restraint.

Three people in the Yukon were also injured.

Flowers and balloons could be seen at the scene of the crash on Monday. 


About the Author:

Corley Peel is a Texas native and Texas Tech graduate who covered big stories in Joplin, Missouri, Tulsa, Oklahoma and Jacksonville, Florida before returning to the Lone Star State. When not reporting, Corley enjoys hot yoga, Tech Football, and finding the best tacos in town.