In 2017, Linda Irie, 50, was driving down the Turner Turnpike near Wellston, Oklahoma, with her three grandkids, five-year-old Jace, nine-year-old Brooklynn, or Brookie, Newville and their cousin Isabella Anthony, 6, to pick up a baby lamb for Easter photos.
According to local news, the family, from Norman, were rear ended by A 17-year-old man, forcing Irie’s “car to collide with two other vehicles. Officials told the family evidence indicates the driver was reading a text at the time.”
The only survivor was little Isabella. The other three were pronounced dead at the scene.
“We’ve had to move a couple times, can’t really walk into the house anymore, see where the kids used to be,” said Brian Newville, the father Brooklynn and Jace.
Their mother Shaneé, who’s since separated from Brian, shared an emotional Facebook post: “Being alive is hard. I wake up and cry, take a shower and cry, put on my make up and cry.” The photographer, who also lost her mom in the crash, continues, “The people who loved me the most are gone. It feels like god took them on vacation with Mima. But it isn’t the truth, they are never coming back.”
List of wishes
Many months later, as the parents were clearing out Brooklynn’s room, they discovered something that would somewhat help ease their unspeakable pain.
A bucket list, hand-written by Brooklynn, covering a large range of things she wished to see or do before she died.
The young girl’s bucket list includes a wide variety of wishes, from seeing a moose, scuba diving, getting a drone, visiting an ice bar in Alaska and seeing the Golden Gate Bridge.
“She always wanted to go hunting with me,” says Brian, choking on his tears. “Never got a chance to.”
And while there are no social media updates on fulfilling their daughter’s bucket list, the parents, at the time, announced they planned to live out Brookie’s dreams for her – no matter how long it takes.
Distracted driving
In 2018, Noah DeDear, of Durango, Colorado, was charged with three counts of manslaughter after he was accused of causing the crash that killed Irie and her two grandchildren.
At the time of the crash, DeDear was days away from his 18th birthday and he is facing trial as an adult.
Police reports reveal that DeDear admitted to sending a text moments before the crash and denied reading two messages that came through from his grandmother and girlfriend.
In 2019, frustrated with the courts’ continued delays, Brian told News 4, “This doesn’t make any sense. Why somebody can kill three innocent lives, two children and a grandmother, and still be allowed to walk free, while the family is sitting here in pain, agony, wanting closure and we can’t get it.”
In February 2021, the family shared on Facebook that jury selection was finally starting.
‘Put it Down’
Meanwhile, the parents are making an important plea to the public to simply put down their phones.
“We are putting out our campaign, Put it Down, so people will put their phones down,” Brian says. “It doesn’t matter if it’s your phone, or food, it’s anything in the car, while you’re driving: Put it down.”
