CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. - Police in Clayton County are searching for the hit-and-run driver that struck two people — a man and a woman — both trying to assist another driver whose car flipped over on I-75 northbound near Tara Blvd. last month.
Authorities say the driver of that car plowed into the two Good Samaritans on September 18 just after 5 a.m. as they tried to assist a man who was pinned inside his car.
The man who stopped to help, Javes Calhoun, was killed on impact. The woman, Cya Tookes, was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital where medics began lifesaving measures.
“My baby was out, a car had turned over and she got out to assist…her and another gentleman… and she was struck by another vehicle,” Cya’s mother Shemeka Levingston said. “For God to give her that second chance to live, we’re very grateful, very thankful.”
Levingston shared an update on Cya’s condition Wednesday saying she’s in critical but stable condition and just underwent a sixth surgery.
“Team Cya Strong, fight on and that’s our motto for her. She’s a fighter,” she said.
Authorities in Clayton County said the car that hit the two caught fire and then the driver fled from the scene.
It’s a troubling reality for Levingston who, for the last three weeks, has watched her daughter now in distress.
“It’s a parent’s nightmare as it is to have to deal with such tragedy, but the ongoing tragedy of it all is that person is still out there and this could easily happen to someone else’s child,” she said.
Though concern for another person’s wellbeing resulted in life altering injures for Cya, her mom says she believes her daughter would’ve done the same thing again even knowing what the outcome might have been.
“That’s just who Cya was…Cya would give her shirt off her back, she would give her last coin,” her mother explained.
Levingston is asking for prayers for her family and Calhoun’s. They’ve also set up a GoFundMe account to help with Cya’s medical costs.