Clayton County boy, 11, dies in Texas crash while traveling for vacation; sister, 16, fighting for her life

An 11-year-old Clayton County boy died in a Texas crash Sunday, according to authorities. Family says they were on their way to enjoy fall break when a car cut them off, leaving the boy dead and his 16-year-old sister to fight for life. It's not clear if she'll walk again.

When on a family vacation, the goal is not to think about coming home. The whole point is to unwind.

Over Zoom from a friend's house, Tracey Moseley says she and her family --all from metro Atlanta--never even made it to their fall vacation spot.

They're "out of town" but can't relax and wish everyone on the trip could come home.

"I can't eat. I can't sleep. I want my son back," she said.  "Everyone can say they're sorry. I just want my son back."

On Sunday, around 5:45 a.m., Moseley, her seven kids and three others were riding in a Chevy Trailblazer.

"It was enough room for everybody to have a seat," she said.

They were to spend the week in Texas visiting friends.  That's when a car sped up from behind and cut them off on this narrow stretch of Interstate 10 near Beaumont with heavy construction.

"I'm in the right lane, [the car] comes over and switches in front of me," Jamel Madison said. He was driving the family car. "I turned the steering wheel to the left, hit the guardrail, and the car flipped."

Moseley said the family did a roll call to see if everyone was okay.

"We had two 'Roberts' in the car," Moseley said. "I said where's my Robert?"

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  (Family photos)

Her Robert, Robert Forby, was thrown from the car.

"I blacked out. I don't remember anything else past that, she said.

"My daughter said once the car flipped, she saw him. Once it stopped, she didn't anymore," Moseley said.

The Texas Department of Public Safety says the 11-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.

Family says the other driver never stopped.

Moseley has scrapes and bruises-- but she's concerned about the others taken to a nearby hospital. Of the three... Moseley says her 16-year-old daughter is fighting to survive.

"She's possibly paralyzed from neck down," the girl's aunt and Moseley's twin sister, Stacia, said. "She cannot be moved for weeks. She's conscious. She's not talking, but she's aware, alert."

Both sisters say extended family can't come to terms with the idea of Robert never fully coming home.

"He was a grown man in a child's body," Robert's mother said. "He was an angel who always helped everybody."

"If [the driver has] any sense, just turn yourself in. we already lost him. We can't get him back. Let his mom have peace," Stacia Moseley said.

Family is still trying to come to terms with the fact that this is now their reality. The one thing they can't understand is why "Little Robert" asked to switch seats with his sister while stopped at a gas station about 45 minutes before the accident.

A GoFundMe has been set up to assist the family.
 

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