DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. — Kimberly Jones is not one to let sorrow stop her mission to save lives.
“Thank you, everybody, for coming. Thank you all,” Jones said.
Dozens gathered in Douglasville’s Hunter Memorial Park Saturday afternoon to join Jones’ cause, in memory of her daughter, Channel 2’s Berndt Petersen reports.
“Patience would not, she would not want me to hold a grudge,” her mother said.
Patience Price, 18, died last March in a one-car wreck along Chapel Hill Road, just hours after attending the Chapel Hill High School prom.
Police say she was a passenger in the vehicle and wasn’t wearing a seat belt.
Trooper say the driver of the car was speeding, hit an embankment, and the car flipped over several times.
At a vigil and balloon release a few days after the fatal crash, the driver asked for forgiveness.
“I just want to send my condolences and apologies to everyone in attendance,” she said.
Jones now preaches seat belt safety. She urges teenagers to always be careful behind the wheel.
Her son Devyn said their family is leaning on their faith.
“If she was here, if Patience was here, she’d tell you the same thing. Spend time with God while you have the chance,” Devyn said.
Police say the driver, 18-year old Antonia Brown, faces several charges, including vehicular homicide.
As for the victim’s mother, Jones says her work to encourage teens to always buckle up has just begun.
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