Columbus police are looking for two male suspects in connection with the death of a mother who tried to stop them from stealing her car with her 6-year-old son inside at a Southeast Side apartment complex.
The Franklin County Coroner’s office confirmed Alexa Stakely, 29, died Thursday morning at Mount Carmel East Hospital.
Columbus police said that Stakely went around 1:30 a.m. Thursday to the 6300 block of Blue Knoll Drive at the White Oak Park Condominiums to pick up her son from a babysitter. She brought the sleeping boy out to her Honda-CRV, which she left running, while she met the babysitter in the doorway to get the boy’s belongings, police said.
As Stakely began to return to her vehicle, she saw someone inside beginning to back out onto the road. Stakely ran out toward the Honda and was heard screaming for her child and telling the driver to stop.
At some point, police said the Honda hit Stakely and knocked her to the pavement, suffering a “fatal wound” to her head. The child was unhurt.
The vehicle was abandoned a short distance away. Witnesses saw two males running north, past where Stakely was on the ground, jumping a fence and escaping into a neighboring apartment complex, police said.
More: Over a quarter of homicides in 2024 have taken place at apartment complexes.
Earlier that same morning, police said surveillance video caught a group of males looking into apartments in the Castenea Way area, a block away from Blue Knoll where the incident with Stakely occurred. Two of the males in that group matched the description of those whom witnesses saw running past Stakely after she was hit, police said.
Medics took Stakely in critical condition to Mount Carmel East Hospital, where she died from her injuries at 8:43 a.m.
Winchester Trails Elementary School mourning death of ‘Ms. Alexa’
Stakely was a speech-language pathologist for Winchester Trail Elementary School in the Canal Winchester Local Schools, the district confirmed Thursday.
“Ms. Alexa,” as she was known to students, had been with the district for five years, according to a news release. Stakely, a single mother, also worked a second job as a server in order to support her 6-year-old son. She had just finished her shift and was picking up her son from the babysitter’s home.
“Alexa was passionate about children and speech-language therapy. She was smart and compassionate, and she cared so much about helping children develop their ability to communicate,” the district said.
“She was a great mom who was incredibly dedicated to her son. Ms. Stakely made a difference in the lives of the students and families she worked with and will be missed by so many in our community and beyond.”
A resident of Pickerington, Stakely graduated from Ohio State University with a master’s degree in speech-language pathology, according to her LinkedIn page.
Authorities ask that anyone with information — including doorbell camera footage that may have captured what happened — call Columbus police homicide detectives at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS. All calls to Crime Stoppers are anonymous.
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