Ohio police are searching for two men involved in the death of a mother who tried to stop her car from being stolen with her 6-year-old son inside. This happened at a Columbus apartment complex.
The Franklin County Coroner confirmed that 29-year-old Alexa Stakely died on Thursday morning at Mount Carmel East Hospital.
Columbus police said Stakely went to pick up her son from a babysitter around 1:30 a.m. on Thursday. She was at the 6300 block of Blue Knoll Drive at the White Oak Park Condominiums. She put her sleeping son in her Honda CRV and left the car running while she went to get his belongings from the babysitter.
As Stakely returned to her car, she saw someone inside it starting to drive away. She ran toward the car, screaming for her child and telling the driver to stop. The car hit Stakely, causing a fatal head injury.
The car was found abandoned nearby. Two men were seen running away from the scene, jumping a fence, and escaping into another apartment complex.
Earlier that morning, surveillance video showed a group of men looking into apartments in a nearby area. Two men in the video matched the description of the suspects.
Stakely was taken to Mount Carmel East Hospital in critical condition and later died at 8:43 a.m.
Stakely was a speech-language pathologist at Winchester Trail Elementary School in Canal Winchester Local Schools. She was known as “Ms. Alexa” to her students and had worked there for five years. She also worked as a waitress to support her son. She had just finished her shift and was picking him up from the babysitter.
The school district described her as passionate about helping children with speech-language therapy. They said she was smart, compassionate, and dedicated to her son. Stakely made a significant impact on her students and will be missed by many.
Stakely lived in Pickerington and graduated from Ohio State University with a master’s degree in speech-language pathology.