August 26, 2002
Kids lost in wreck mourned
By Theresa Kiely
[email protected]
Two Jackson families are in mourning after losing all of their children in one of the deadliest crashes ever on the Natchez Trace Parkway.
Natchez Trace Parkway Ranger Joe Mangino said authorities think alcohol was involved in the Saturday evening accident in which David Lee Lawrence, 23, of Canton, ran a stop sign as he traveled through the intersection of Ratliff Ferry Road and the parkway.
Mangino said Lawrence's vehicle plowed into a car driven by Jackson resident Lisa Miller. The Chrysler 2001 Sebring carrying Miller, 34, her two children and a close friend's three children was hurled into a thicket of trees.
Blood samples were taken from both Miller and Lawrence to determine whether alcohol use was a factor in the accident, but "at this point, there is no evidence that she was at fault," Mangino said.
The children who died:
- Miller's daughter, Joslin Miller, 7, and son, Kenneth Miller, 10, both Boyd Elementary students.
- Alexis, 7, and Ashley Bradley, 9, both Boyd students, and their 11-year-old brother, Jorian Holloway, a student at Chastain Middle School. The three are the children of Louis and Nichelle Bradley of Jackson.
"They loved each other so much. If my wife spanked one of our kids, Sister Miller's daughter cried. She felt her pain. They were like brothers and sisters."
Both families are Jehovah's Witnesses.
If charges are filed against Lawrence in the five children's deaths, they likely would be through the Madison County district attorney's office, Mangino said. There are no federal statutes to address driving under the influence, Mangino said.
"Lawrence had been on a boat prior to the 7:07 p.m. accident," said Mangino. He said Miller, a private-duty nurse, was able to speak to him at the accident scene.
Miller "saw him coming by. There was nothing she could do. Two girls were thrown from the car sometime after it flipped, possibly two times," Mangino said.
Lawrence was in critical condition Sunday with head injuries at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, said Barbara Austin, a hospital spokeswoman. Miller was listed in stable condition at UMC.
The children were scattered on the ground when Mangino pulled up behind Farmhaven volunteer firefighters. Lawrence likely hit his head on the windshield of his 1997 Nissan Altima as the impact threw him from the car, Mangino said.
The sight traumatized even seasoned volunteers and law enforcement officials, Mangino said.
Hours later, they met at the Farmhaven Fire Department for a stress intervention session run by American Medical Response, said Mickee Ramsey, 20, a member of the fire department and an AMR emergency response technician.
"These were just innocent little kids who never harmed anyone," Ramsey said. "You always remember the bad calls. None of us will forget this one."
Nichelle Bradley picked the five children up after school every day. Miller wanted to repay her kindness by taking her children to a picnic Saturday, Louis Bradley said.
Afterward, Miller drove northbound on the trace to drop off her daughter at the Kociusko home of her maternal grandparents, Betty Jean and James E. Martin Sr.
"My son Jorian had the highest grade point average in his fifth- grade class at Boyd," Bradley said. "Lexi was the one who always wanted to be pretty.
"Ashley was my tomboy. She could walk on her hands. She begged us to put her in gymnastics, but we were afraid she'd get hurt."
Family members say Miller, a single mother who divorced last year, was heartbroken that her ex-husband and her two children's father, Arthur Miller, did not postpone his Sunday wedding date.
At 3 p.m., he married Tynette Solomon, a co-worker at Double G Coatings in Byram. The ceremony and reception were at the Hilton Hotel in Jackson.
He would not comment.
James E. Martin Jr., a former Marine, said his sister and her two children moved to a small apartment following the divorce. "Kenny missed his dog," James Martin said. "He had to give it away. He loved cartoons, especially Japanese animation, and he was a math whiz. I was already lobbying my sister to let him play football."
Petite but outspoken, Joslin Miller entertained her relatives at family reunions with her witty remarks, Martin said.
"She said, 'When I grow up, I want to do what I want to do,' " James Martin said. "She drove with me on a trip back north to Illinois. Joslin loved Celine Dion. She tortured me all the way home to Mississippi. By then, she knew every word of every Celine Dion song.
"I'm angry about it, but it's done," Martin said of the wreck. "I put it in God's hands. The shock of losing both her kids hasn't hit Lisa yet. They've got her sedated."
Lawrence was cited July 28 for littering and speeding by a state trooper, said Hinds County Sheriff's Department's Sgt. Steve Pickett. The accident is being investigated by the Madison County Sheriff's Department, the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol, the National Park Service and the Ridgeland Police Department.
To help pay for burials of the five children, call Kingdom Hall of Witnesses Minister Larry McQuater at (601) 366-1076 or send donations to Kingdom Hall of Witnesses, Box 9744, Jackson MS 39209.