CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Maurice Stegall was on his way home from Georgia on Aug. 21 when he got a call that there had been a car accident involving three of his kids and a family friend. He called his family and rushed to the scene on McClardy Road, where he was met with little information and a racing mind.
“I was like, ‘I just need to know if my babies are OK,'” Stegall recalled. Upon arriving at the scene, he met an officer who had tears in his eyes. The officer told Stegall he needed to go to the hospital.
Stegall told Clarksville Now his 6- and 7-year-old daughters were with their 13-year-old brother and a 16-year-old friend in the car listening to music that morning when the 13-year-old decided to try to drive.
The mother of the 16-year-old, however, told Clarksville Now that the 13-year-old drove to the older teen’s home and picked him up.
At some point, the boy lost control of the vehicle. It flipped multiple times before coming to a stop.
A nurse came back and told Stegall that two of his kids were OK, and were being sent back for X-rays. The 13-year-old was treated at the hospital and released. The 16-year-old broke his arm and had to have surgery; he has since been released.
“I asked, ‘What about my daughter, Laylah?’ They said they would check on the status of her.”
About 15 minutes passed, and then a doctor came out followed by police officers. Any parent’s worst nightmare was realized for Stegall: His 7-year-old daughter, Laylah Winton, was gone.
“They told us that the injuries she sustained were nonreversible,” Stegall said as he choked back tears. “If she would’ve pulled through, she would’ve had some brain injuries or loss of feeling in her arm.”
Remembering Laylah
Stegall calls Laylah his princess. “Anybody who met her or had been around her loved her. She was the true definition of pure love.”
Laylah was a dancer, and Stegall said she knew how to dance before she knew how to crawl.
On Aug. 29, the family filled the sky with purple – her favorite color – at a balloon release at West Creek Elementary School, where Laylah was a third-grader. Teachers, family and friends shared memories they had of a life that was taken too soon.
“Hug your babies tight,” Laylah’s mother, Crystal McAdams, urged the crowd. “Don’t take those little moments for granted.”
Her best friend was her sister, Kalia, who was also in the car when the accident happened. Fortunately, she had only minor injuries.
“It was like vinegar and water, they were total opposites,” Stegall said. “Every morning, Kalia would argue with Laylah because (Laylah) would pick on her and put her foot on Kalia’s bed.” Now, he would do anything to have that arguing back.
“I’ve been trying to get the image of her lying there (in the hospital) out of my head,” he said.
The family held a funeral service for Laylah at First Missionary Baptist Church, and her final resting place is at Spring Hill Cemetery in Nashville.
Beyond the grief
The Clarksville Police Department has investigated the wreck, but due to the involvement of minors, no other information is being released.
Derrious Brown, Stegall’s brother, created a GoFundMe for the family as they did not have insurance for Laylah or on the car.
Stegall said he wants to use this tragic situation to teach young people to think before they act.
“Everything that glitters ain’t gold, don’t try to be what you see on TV,” he said. “One bad choice you make can mess you up for the rest of your life.”
Update: The mother of the 16-year-old told Clarksville Now that the 13-year-old drove to the older teen’s home and picked him up. The article has been updated.