TROY TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Ohio was supposed to be just a rest stop for Danielle Wilburn and her two daughters.
Instead, she's staying with her 6-year-old daughter at UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, recovering from a car crash that killed her 13-year-old daughter.
Troopers detailed how a black Nissan sedan collided into Wilburn's silver Mitsubishi along Route 422 in Troy Township at around 12:30 a.m. Saturday. It's a stretch of roadway east of where the main highway ends.
"The car hit us so hard it knocked out the engine," Wilburn said.
Lauren Braxton, 13, died in the crash and Journee Wilburn-Boston, 6, is currently paralyzed and trying to regain feeling in her legs, according to her mother. Both were asleep in the car at the time of the crash.
"She was only 13, and the last thing she said to me was, 'I'm just so ready to go home and lay down.' We were in Ohio, and I'm, 'Alright, baby, we got six more hours to get home,'" Wilburn said.
Danielle Wilburn is recovering from several broken vertebrae and says 6-year-old Journee has just regained her ability to eat. Danielle Wilburn hopes that Journee can regain her ability to walk in the future.
"I just started walking yesterday," Wilburn said.
Police arrested 28-year-old Jaisean Gambill, who faces charges including aggravated vehicular homicide and aggravated vehicular assault. Troopers say drugs and alcohol are suspected of being a contributing factor in the crash.
Now, after she reached out to News 5 unsolicited, Wilburn wants her story to serve as a warning to others.
"Drinking and driving — I want them to know that everything can end in a split second," she said. "If you're used to drinking and driving, stop it. Just don't do it. You just never know what can happen. You don't ever know when your life may change behind that wheel. You never know."
Gambill is due in court on Tuesday.
"Part of me has ended, and part of me is gone," Danielle Wilburn said. "I never get to see my baby again."
Clay LePard is the Ashtabula, Geauga and Portage counties reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on X @ClayLePard, on Facebook ClayLePardTV or email him at Clay.LePard@wews.com.
