Inset, from left: Terri Pollock, Tariji Cone and Danaijah Jackson (GoFundMe). Background: The aftermath of a crash on Florida’s I-10 near Tallahassee that killed Pollock and injured Tariji after dropping off Jackson at college (Florida Highway Patrol).
A Florida mother was killed and her younger daughter seriously injured while returning home from dropping off her eldest daughter at college when an alleged wrong-way driver slammed into their vehicle.
It happened Aug. 20 along I-10 in Madison County near Tallahassee.
Florida Highway Patrol troopers received an alert shortly after 7 p.m. about a wrong-way driver going west in the eastbound lanes along I-10. Shortly thereafter, 911 calls came in about a violent crash.
Troopers later learned a 29-year-old woman was driving the wrong way and struck an SUV head-on.
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Terri Pollock, the SUV driver, died, while her 13-year-old daughter, Tariji Cone, suffered critical injuries. The wrong-way driver also was critically injured, troopers said.
Witnesses noted there was “heavy rainfall” during the crash. Troopers say the incident remains under investigation.
Pollock and Tariji were driving home after dropping off Pollock’s eldest daughter Danaijah Jackson at Florida A&M University.
“What should have been the start of a beautiful new chapter for Danaijah Jackson and Tariji Cone, the daughters of Terri Pollock, has become an unimaginable tragedy,” a GoFundMe said.
The crash came months after the mother and Jackson celebrated a milestone together: They shared the same stage after Pollock graduated with a bachelor’s degree in nursing, while Jackson earned her associate degree and high school diploma.
“The family had been preparing to celebrate Danaijah’s next chapter as a first-year college student, a moment that should have been filled with pride, joy, and promise,” the GoFundMe stated. “Instead, their lives changed forever.”
Pollock was described as a “devoted single mother, a provider, and a fighter.”
Tariji suffered serious injuries, including several broken bones and a brain bleed that required surgery, her grandmother told Orlando Fox affiliate WOFL.
“She had a chest tube because there was some fluid there,” Lasondra Pollock said. “She also was on a ventilator for a few days. They did sedate her during the process.”
Lasondra Pollock had made the trip to Tallahassee to help move her granddaughter into college.
“We decorated her room and everything,” Lasondra Pollock told the TV station. “Myself and my younger daughter, we left, went back home and Terri was leaving out the following day. We did get a text saying that she was on her way back and ready to leave and come back home.”
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