UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — Multiple family members of a teen killed in a Prince George’s County car crash say it was the girl’s mother who was driving when the car carrying four kids hit a tree in Upper Marlboro on Sunday.
Police have not confirmed the identity of the driver.
Authorities say 17-year-old Janiya Thompson died due the incident. Three other children, including a 5-month old in a car seat, were hurt along with the mother, the family said.
Prince George’s County police say the incident remains under investigation and they do not know what caused the driver to lose control of her sedan on Kettering Drive near the intersection with Red Jade Drive.
“We lost somebody so important to us," said Jennifer Wood, one of Janiya's aunts. "We'll never get a chance to see all that potential she had go to fruition."
Wood was among family members who say the teen was killed when Thompson's mother, Monique Y. Thompson, lost control of her blue sedan while driving north on Kettering Drive.
The family identified the injured children as:
- 7-year-old Serenity Thompson, who was Janiya's younger sister
- 17-year-old Deja Burton, Janiya's best friend
- A 5-month-old infant the teens were babysitting
According to a GoFundMe page put up by the family, “She was funny, charismatic, loving and would help anyone she encountered."
Katia Bruce, who is Janiya's older half-sister, organized the fundraiser.
“I don't feel like I lost a sister. I feel like I lost a child because NyNy was with me all the time since she was a baby,” Bruce said referring to Janiya by her nickname.
Family members say Janiya was a student at Largo High School who aspired to become a nurse.
She was a teen entrepreneur who sold eyelash extensions, while also working full-time in the summer as an apartment complex lifeguard in Seat Pleasant, her family said.
Janiya was also devoted to her younger sister, they added.
According to family members, the accident happened after mother Monique Thompson picked up the kids from the apartment complex pool Sunday. It happened within two blocks of their destination.
According to Maryland court records and family members in Maryland and North Carolina, Janiya and her sister had returned to Prince George's County in December after their mother won custody in a long battle with grandparents near Fayetteville, North Carolina.
WUSA9's attempts to contact Monique Thompson were not successful. Family members say she was injured and is still hospitalized.