CARROLL COUNTY, Ga. — A grieving mother has a message for parents after her daughter was killed in a two-car crash.
Angel Thompson, 18, was on her way back to the University of West Georgia on May 1 when her car hydroplaned on Highway 166 East in Carroll County and was hit by another car. She died in the crash.
Thompson’s mother said her daughter had stopped at a McDonald’s just before the crash and texted her about the rain.
“I said drive carefully and slow down,” Ericka Thompson said.
The mother said she had a tracking app called Life 360 on her daughter's phone and was following her drive back to school. She said she tracked her daughter not because she didn’t trust her, but to keep her only child safe.
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“I was always hovering over her, no matter where she went,” Ericka Thompson said. “This is for your safety. Anything can happen.”
She knew something was wrong when the app showed that Angel had been in the same spot on Highway 166 for a long time yet she wasn't answering her phone.
Ericka Thompson immediately started driving from Jonesboro to the location and called police. Officers told her they were working an accident and she knew it involved her daughter.
“I knew because they were working the exact same location that the tracker said she was still at,” she said.
The mother said even though she knew the exact location, she couldn’t get to her daughter in time.
“He told me she has expired,” Ericka Thompson said.
She said she wants other parents to know it’s OK to track their children.
“Because if something happens, I want to be able to get to you. I don’t want anyone to come and tell me something happened to you,” she said.
She said her daughter was an outstanding student, with a double major at UWG. Her old high school, the Stillwell Performing Arts School in Clayton County, will hand out an annual scholarship in her memory.
Cox Media Group
