A terrible Easter car accident killed a 9-year-old girl and her baby brother. Her parents then found a note she wrote to herself.
Brooklynn Newville wrote down on a piece of paper the things she wanted to do before she died. They included seeing a moose, jumping off a cliff into a swimming hole, and going to an ice bar in Alaska.
But the nine-year-old girl and her five-year-old brother Jace were killed. She never got to do any of the things on her list of wishes, which her parents found months after she died.
Find out more about the sad list the kind child left behind by reading on.
In 2017, Linda Irie, 50, was driving on the Turner Turnpike near Wellston, Oklahoma, with her three grandchildren: Jace, 5, Brooklynn, 9, Newville; and Isabella Anthony, 6, a cousin of the grandchildren. They were going to get a baby lamb for Easter pictures.
Local news said that a 17-year-old driver hit the Norman family from behind, causing Irie’s car to crash into two other cars. The family was told that there was evidence that the driver was reading a text message at the time of the accident.
Isabella was the only one who made it out alive. The police said the other three were dead at the scene.
“We’ve had to move a few times, and now I can’t really walk into the house and see where the kids used to be,” Brooklynn and Jace’s dad, Brian Newville, said.
Shaneé, their mother, wrote an emotional post on Facebook: “Being alive is hard.” She is no longer with Brian. When I wake up, I cry. When I take a shower, I cry. When I put on makeup, I cry. The photographer further says, “The people who loved me the most are gone.” Her mother also died in the crash. It looks like God took them on a trip with Mima. That’s not true; they’ll never come back.
A list of desires
After many months, when Brooklynn’s parents were cleaning out her room, they found something that helped ease some of their unbearable pain.
Brooklynn wrote down by hand a long list of things she wanted to see or do before she died.
The girl’s long list of things she wants to do includes scuba diving, seeing a moose, getting a drone, going to an ice bar in Alaska, and seeing the Golden Gate Bridge.
“She always wanted to go hunting with me,” Brian sobs. “Never had the chance.”
At the time, Brookie’s parents said they would fulfill all of her dreams, no matter how long it takes. There are no new posts on social media about them checking off things on her bucket list.
Driving while distracted
Noah DeDear, from Durango, Colorado, was charged with three counts of manslaughter in 2018 because he was blamed for the crash that killed Irie and her two grandchildren.
At the time of the crash, DeDear was only a few days away from turning 18. He is now being tried as an adult.
According to the police report, DeDear admitted to sending a text message right before the crash but denied reading two messages from his grandmother and girlfriend.
In 2019, Brian told News 4 that the courts’ delays were making him mad and that “this doesn’t make any sense.” Why someone can kill three innocent people—two children and a grandmother—and still get away with it? The family is in pain and trauma and wants closure, but we can’t get it.
In February 2021, the family wrote on Facebook that the jury selection process had finally begun.
“Set it Down”
And at the same time, the parents are pleading with everyone to put down their phones.
Bryan says, “Our campaign is called “Put it Down,” and it’s meant to get people to put down their phones. “Put it down while you’re driving. It doesn’t matter if it’s your phone or food.”
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