‘Nothing will bring Crystal back:’ Hit-and-run victim would have turned 7 years old today

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A young girl was killed in a hit-and-run crash, leaving a mother heartbroken and looking for answers.

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On what would have been her 7th birthday, her mom, Rebecca Levy, is recovering and trying to navigate life without her oldest daughter, Crystal.

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“Nothing will bring Crystal back,” Levy said.

Nearly a month later, Levy and Crystal’s 5-year-old sister, Olivia, are trying to stay strong.

“She’s... she’s keeping me going,” Levy said.

Levy bought toys and a cake to celebrate Crystal’s memory.

“Everything bright, cheery, and colorful, she was nothing but a joy,” she said.

The three were on their way home from Walmart in February when the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said a white car swerved into their lane on Merrill road, forcing her SUV into a telephone pole.

ORIGINAL STORY: 6-year-old child dies in a hit-and-run on Merrill Road, JSO is still investigating

“I’m just devasted,” Levy said.

In her first interview since the deadly crash, Levy said she remembers the moments before running off the road.

“The car was trying to get my attention by honking at me at a red light,” she said. “When the light went green and we took off, they rode by me and there were three hands that shot up the middle finger at me before they cut me off in front of me.”

Levy said the car went back into the left lane while she kept driving in hopes of leaving the car behind them.

“Next thing you know I’m off the road fighting to...I just remember glass breaking,” levy said. “I remember the sound of the glass breaking and things just shattering and next thing you know I’m trying, unbuckling my seatbelt and getting out of the car looking for my kids.”

READ: Jacksonville sheriff: Woman’s publicly-shared story about officer misconduct during crash is false

Left with internal bleeding, broken ribs, and facial fractures, levy could see and hear Olivia, but not Crystal.

“I turned around to find her and see her in the middle of the road,” she said. “I went over there trying to pick her up and carrying her and I couldn’t because I collapsed.”

So far, no arrests have been made in the case, but Levy said nothing will help the pain of losing her daughter.

“I don’t know how they could live with themselves, honestly, after doing that,” she said. “There’s no way you didn’t know there were kids in the car.”

A spokesperson for the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said traffic homicide detectives are working meticulously on the case.

If you know anything about this incident, you are urged to call jso at 904-630-0500 or crime stopper at 888-277-tips (8477).

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