KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — On Thursday, the Knoxville Police Department said a car crash claimed the lives of three people and sent three children to the hospital for serious injuries. Two of those pronounced dead were Krista Maples and her 10-year-old son.
Susan Latham, the boy's great-grandmother, said Maples was a single mother raising four children on her own. Latham said she was devastated to hear about the death of family members, after getting a phone call from family.
"Somebody posted on Facebook that there was a bad wreck on Western Avenue. And, at the time, I didn't know it was my granddaughter or my grandbabies," she said. "He said, 'Mom, this is going to tear you up.' I said, 'Mark, what is it?' I said, 'You don't have to tell me. I already know.'"
The father of the 10-year-old boy delivered the news. The 10-year-old was described as a boy who loved sports and fishing, and who had a close relationship with his great-grandmother.
"Right now, I gotta concentrate on my three little ones, that God will move in and touch them. He said they're, all three, in critical condition," said Latham. "He loved me. I loved to aggravate him ... rub his hair, pinch his fat cheeks. He'd say, 'Mammy, quit.'"
She also said the boy was practically inseparable from his mother.
"I loved Krista. She was outstanding, she was beautiful. She was a beautiful girl, always had a smile on her face everywhere she went," she said. "They're going to need all the help they can get, financially, spiritually."
Family members organized a GoFundMe campaign to support the family while the other three children were still in the hospital.
Three cars were involved in the fatal crash, which KPD said likely came as a result of a driver having a medical event on the road. Maples' three other children remained hospitalized with serious injuries on Friday, KPD said. Police also said evidence suggested the people who died were not wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash.