WYNNE, Ark. (WREG) — A mother was killed while protecting her children during a tornado, family members in Wynne, Arkansas said.
The brother of 29-year-old La’Kristen White said her three children are now recovering from serious injuries, but they are alive.
White’s home off West Garfield Avenue is now just a pile of rubble. It was decimated during last week’s tornado.
But before it hit here, claiming her life, her brother Brandon Johnson says she called him in Little Rock to give him a warning.
She told him, “I just got wind that it’s coming towards you, and so you need to take cover and be careful. You always looking out for me,” Johnson remembered. “‘I love you.’ I’m like, ‘I love you too.'”
Those were their final words. Johnson says he tried to check in hours later, but his sister never answered.
Johnson says his sister died protecting her three children — ages 2, 11 and 13.
“She tried to usher everybody in the closet and as you can see, it just got blown away,” he said. “She always looked out for the kids. She was a kid person, didn’t matter who it was. She really loved the kids.”
The tornado had no mercy in the surrounding neighborhood. Almost every home was leveled.
“I was raised here, so when you look around you can barely recognize, like, where things were, and if you’re new here you wouldn’t recognize anything, because everything is so messed up right now,” Johnson said.
While his family mourns, Johnson says he’s grateful for the community coming together.
“People are actually coming together,” he said. “You see people just passing out water. They’re doing great things here and I love the support that we’re getting.”
To contribute to a Gofundme supporting the family, click here.