Two male suspects are being sought by Columbus police in relation to the death of a mother who, while her 6-year-old son was inside, tried to prevent the theft of their automobile at an apartment complex on the Southeast Side.
Alexa Stakely, 29, passed away at Mount Carmel East Hospital on Thursday morning, according to the Franklin County Coroner’s office.
According to the Columbus police, Stakely picked up her son from a babysitter at the White Oak Park Condominiums on Blue Knoll Drive in the 6300 block at approximately 1:30 in the am on Thursday. According to the police, she escorted the sleeping child to her running Honda-CRV and then met the babysitter at the door to retrieve the child’s possessions.
Stakely noticed that someone was getting out of their car and onto the road as she started to go back to her own. You could hear Stakely yelling for her child and for the driver of the Honda to halt as she dashed out to meet it.
Image – YouTube
According to the authorities, Stakely was hit by the Honda and thrown to the ground, where she had a “fatal wound” to the head.
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Not far from the spot where Stakely was hit, there was an abandoned automobile. According to the police, two individuals were spotted sprinting north past the scene of the crime, then jumped a fence and fled into an adjacent apartment building.
Apartment buildings have been the site of more than 25% of homicides in 2024.
The encounter with Stakely took place at Blue Knoll, but earlier that morning, police claimed security footage had shown a group of men peering into apartments in the Castenea Way area. Two of the men in that group were similar to the ones described by the police as having run by Stakely just after she was hit.
Stakely was taken to Mount Carmel East Hospital by medics in a severe condition, but she passed away from her injuries at 8:43 a.m.
The district verified Thursday that Winchester Trail Elementary School in the Canal Winchester Local Schools employed a speech-language pathologist by the name of “Ms. Alexa,” and the school is in mourning over her passing. Students knew her as “Ms. Alexa,” and she had worked for the district for five years, as stated in a press release. Stakely, who was raising her kid, who was six years old, on her alone, took a second job as a waitress. She was on her way to collect her son from the babysitter’s house after finishing her shift.
“Children and speech-language therapy were two of Alexa’s greatest interests. “She was intelligent, caring, and genuinely interested in assisting children in their communication development,” the district remarked.
She was a wonderful mother who gave her son her undivided attention. Many people in our community and beyond will miss Ms. Stakely because of the impact she had on the lives of the children and families she served.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Stakely is a master’s degree holder in speech-language pathology and a resident in Pickerington. She attended Ohio State University.
Columbus police homicide detectives can be reached at 614-645-4730 or 614-461-TIPS if anyone has information, including video from doorbell cameras that might have shown what happened. Anyone can call Crime Stoppers without being identified.