MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A seven-year-old from Memphis who survived cancer was killed in a car wreck that injured five others in Alabama.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency says around 3 p.m. Sunday, a Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by an Alabama woman hit a Hyundai Tucson driven by a Memphis woman on Interstate 22 west of Jasper.
Kieyana Brown was driving the Hyundai. She said she and her husband Derrick Webb, their three kids, and their nephew were returning to Memphis from a weekend in Atlanta when they crashed.
Brown said she was making a U-Turn on 22 when the Jeep came out of nowhere and slammed into the back of her car.
“This lady came flying like a bat out of hell and hit us from the back and crushed all our kids in the back seat, and my baby girl didn’t make it,” said Brown.
Ka’Maria Webb, 7, her brother Derrick Webb Jr, 10, Dimoni Webb, 8, and their cousin Tae’vion Butler, 7, were all sitting in the back seat of the Hyundai. Brown said Ka’Maria was sitting in the center and did not survive.
Her brothers and cousin are still in the hospital. Brown said her youngest son Dimoni had undergone at least four surgeries to repair damage to his ruptured diaphragm and a broken pelvic bone and still needs more procedures.
“Dimoni, he opened his eyes for me the day before yesterday,” she said. “I guess he had looked and seen his dad and me. He tried to get up. It made me so happy because it’s like he is still fighting. He’s strong,” said Brown.
Brown said Ka’Maria was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma in 2019 after doctors found a tumor in her jaw. She was treated at St. Jude and was cancer-free a year later.
“She did great. It was a struggle. But I tried to make sure she had her confidence up. I made sure she had a pretty outfit every day,” Brown said.
St. Jude paid to bring Ka’Maria’s body back to Memphis, but the family is still struggling financially.
Brown and her husband are still recovering from their injuries, and she said her husband can’t work because they don’t want to leave their children.
“Everything is on hold. I can’t even take care of what I need to take care of for my daughter. I can’t leave them. I’m not going to leave them,” she said.
Brown said her daughter was a pint-sized diva who loved to dress up and dance and is now dancing her heart out in heaven.
“I made a status like that on Facebook. Dance for everybody up there. Dance until they get tired of you. Maybe they will send you back to me,” said Brown. “I miss my baby.”
The family has set up a GoFundMe account to help with their medical expenses, their daughter’s funeral, and day-to-day needs.
Alabama law enforcement is investigating the crash.