JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Lisa Reynolds is mourning the loss of her daughter, Keri Shockley, who was killed in a crash on Interstate 10 near Chaffee Road around 2:45 a.m. Tuesday. She was 36 years old.
"Keri was my firstborn, and she was always carefree, full of energy, the hope of our family. (She) always kept things going for our family. She has five kids. Ages 15 to 4 (years old)," Reynolds said.
She said her heart is broken over the shocking loss of her daughter, but her grandchildren are giving her strength as she deals with a broken heart.
"I think we can draw strength from them. Those youngest said when it was raining outside, that Wednesday after it happened, she told her father, ‘Daddy, that’s mama smiling down on us,’" Reynolds said.
Keri Shockley's father, Kermit Shockley, remembers getting a phone call from his daughter about an hour before she died.
"She said ‘hey dad, what are you doing?’ And I was like, what was wrong? And she didn’t say anything was wrong. I heard something inside. This is not the normal cheery Keri. But she didn’t tell me what was wrong. I questioned her a little more and then she said ‘Well, dad, I will call you back,’" Kermit Shockley said.
He said his daughter never called back. The next call he received was from police, notifying him of what happened.
The family said they do not know where she was going or coming from at the time of the deadly crash that shut down the interstate for hours.
Her mom drove around the accident scene before learning it was her daughter involved in the wreck.
"I went through the detour. Me and my sister. I said to myself, 'Whoever that is, Godspeed to them,'” that was my exact words to my sister. Never knowing, I would pass my child," Reynolds said. "It was my daughter."
Reynolds said the thing she misses the most about her daughter is her smile. She said her smile meant so much to so many people.
The family said Keri Shockley worked for an independent cleaning company that had contracts with the City of Jacksonville.
Her friends and family have set up a GoFundMe account to help support her five children. Click here if you would like to make a donation.