Aaliyah Sedley-Jones: Helpless father watches as teen dies when car rolls down a hill and flips over
NORTH SOMERSET, UNITED KINGDOM: In a tragic accident, a 17-year-old girl named Aaliyah Sedley-Jones, also known as Lily, died in front of her father as she was waiting in the car alone when the locks and handbrake engaged, leading the car to roll downhill and flip over. The incident took place in Spring Hill, Weston-super-Mare on January 5, 2022. However, an inquest about the accident held on August 15, heard the father, Benjamin Jones, describing how helplessly he watched her daughter dying.
According to BBC, Avon Coroner's Court was informed that Lily, who just had a provisional license, went to her father's silver Citroen C4 Picasso to wait for him and one of her four brothers. However, when the father saw her in the driver's seat and heard the engine noise, he rushed. He tried opening the driver's door as the car began to roll down the 11.6 per cent gradient hill, but the car sped up and the doors got locked automatically. As per the report, the doors of a Citroen C4 lock when a car travels faster than 6mph (about 9.6kmph). The devastated father said recollected the incident, "I couldn't hold on to it any longer. I have no idea why Lily got into the driver’s seat and tried to drive the car."
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As per the BBC report, during the inquest, police reported that there was a point when the driver's door had opened before crashing. The Citroen C4 hit a car, before hitting a grass verge, a wall, and a lamppost before flipping. Neighbors rushed to help the victim and pulled out the teen from under the car. The paramedics reached the scene and declared Lily dead at 8.49 pm.
No faults were found in the vehicle and coroner Maria Voisin ruled the death an accident. The cause of death was given as cerebral injuries after a post-mortem examination by Dr Edward Sheffield.
Mother pays emotional tribute
As reported previously by BBC on January 10, Lily's mother remembered her and said, "You were my best friend, a breath of fresh air and you lit up any and every room. You genuinely were too perfect for this cruel world and the time where I can be with you again cannot come soon enough."
She added, "We will never stop talking about you as you were the most caring, considerate, loving, funny, most beautiful girl and the time we had with you we will cherish forever. Taken from us at the worst age of only 17 in a sudden tragic accident that will forever haunt us."