Mom who lost leg in road rage incident dies

A Texas mom whose leg was amputated after being seriously injured in a road rage incident last year died earlier this week, KHOU-TV reports.

Now her family wants to see justice against the teens who caused the crash.

In July 2016, Jennifer Russell sustained significant injuries in a crash after two teenage boys sideswiped the car she and her boyfriend were in.

Russell, of Denison, Texas, had to get her right leg amputated and undergo 20 surgeries as a result of the accident.

She died Monday, according to her family.

“She tried hard,” Lisa Barlow, Russell’s mother, told KHOU-TV.

“She was pretty much sick every day since the accident.”

Russell had recently helped decorate her family’s Christmas tree and accompanied her kids in a wheelchair on a Black Friday shopping spree.

Russell died surrounded by her children — her 12-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter.

Barlow told the television station that while Russell expressed forgiveness toward the teens who caused the crash, she “wanted them to know they ended her world.”

Barlow and other family members of Russell said the teenage boys should face murder charges.

Russell’s car was pushed into lanes of oncoming traffic while Russell was sitting in the passenger seat, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

“I feel like my daughter was murdered but since it wasn’t intentional, I know I can’t get that,” Barlow told KXII-TV.

Prosecutors have said they will confer with Russell’s physician to assess whether there is a direct link between the incident and her death. If there is, authorities could potentially add charges against the teens.

The teens accused of causing the crash — Tripp Bird and Joshua Haliburton — each face charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and serious bodily injury, KTEN-TV reports.

The two are out on bond at present.

The incident reportedly started when the two teens cut off Russell’s boyfriend, who then spit at one of the teens’ cars, KTEN.-TV reports.

The teens were driving different vehicles and are accused of chasing Russell’s car into oncoming traffic, which then led to Russell’s vehicle colliding head-on with a pickup truck.

 

Feature image: Facebook/Jennifer Russell