The family of a Sarasota woman who died from injuries suffered in a horrific crash a year ago gathered Thursday at the scene of the tragedy to remember her and celebrate what would have been her 61st birthday.
Sandra Lee Clarkston had been riding in a 2017 Hyundai Elantra with her daughter, 18-year-old daughter, Shiyanne Kroll, of Seattle, on May 10, 2018 when they were hit from behind at the intersection of NW 60th Avenue and U.S. Hwy. 27 by a 2011 Chevrolet Avalanche driven by 45-year-old Angenette Welk – a woman who gained worldwide notoriety for striking a smiling pose in her jail booking mugshot. Clarkston was critically injured when Kroll’s vehicle was pushed partially under a horse trailer that was being pulled by semi-truck and she died four days later at Ocala Regional Medical Center.
Welk, who had been allowed to move to Washington State, was jailed in March after Judge Steven G. Rogers revoked her bond after review records from a medical treatment she had sought.
Last month, Welk pleaded no contest to a charge of DUI manslaughter and two counts of DUI with property damage and is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday by Rogers. She could serve as much as 17 years in prison.
On Thursday, Clarkston’s twin brother, Daniel, and her daughter, Keonna Sciacca, gathered to honor their sister and mother on her birthday – one day before the anniversary of the crash. They were joined by Daniel Clarkston’s wife, Nicki, and Sciacca’s girlfriend, Amy Bramley.
“Today’s our birthday and Sandy is four minutes older than me in heaven,” Daniel said quietly after cleaning up a cross Sciacca had built and erected in her mother’s honor. “We put a new picture on it so everybody knows who my sister was.”
Sciacca said it was extremely hard to be at the crash site on her mother’s birthday – but it was important to pay tribute to her.
“It’s difficult but it was the last place my mom was alive,” she said. “It’s where the accident happened, so we put up the cross to make other people aware. And we can come visit and say ‘hi’ from time to time. It’s kind of our little spot.”
Sciacca said she appreciated the many motorists and truckers who passed by the site on Thursday and honked their horns. And she said one special visitor – an Ocala Police officer – came by and that meant the world to the family.
“He was the one that pulled my little sister out from the car,” Sciacca said. “He’s pretty important, as well as all the others who responded that day.”
Bramley said Sandra Clarkston lived with her and Sciacca and she is missed in their household every day.
“It’s just not the same,” she said softly.
Bramley added that the memorial cross at the intersection serves a very important purpose.
“We want people to see it and remember that life changes in a matter of minutes,” she said. “It’s not worth driving drunk and killing someone. Call a friend. Call somebody. Everybody has cell phones nowadays. This has just been an awful, awful experience.”
Nicki Clarkston said she and her sister-in-law were good friends and had lots of plans for the future. And she added that the tragedy has affected her family terribly.
“It’s pure devastation to not have her,” she said. “My husband suffers every day from the loss. He cries all the time.”
Nicki added that it’s hard to believe that Sandra was just innocently sitting at a red light when the horrible crash occurred.
“She didn’t deserve to die like that,” she said. “It was a horrible death.”
As for Daniel, he said he thinks about Sandra every day.
“I just love and miss my sister with all my heart,” he said. “I’d give anything right now if she was here. I’d trade places with her.”
Daniel added that many members of his family will be at the courthouse on Thursday when the judge announces Welk’s sentence.
“We just want justice for Sandy,” Bramley added.
While at the crash site, the family shared the special birthday cake that was baked in Sandra’s honor and then released several helium balloons, some of which included special hand-written messages. Then they stood quietly and watched the balloons float high into the sky as motorists driving by continued to honk their horns and pay their respects.
