Vigil Held For Stepfather And Daughter Killed In Atlanta Car Accident

A vigil was held for a father and daughter killed in a car crash in Atlanta, Georgia on Dec. 3, according to 11Alive News. The vigil took place at the Greater Elizabeth Missionary Baptist Church on Dec. 8.

Nicholas Jeffries, 33, and his daughter, 10-year-old Janyla Henderson, died after the vehicle they were riding in crashed at approximately 3 a.m. near the intersection of Campbellton Road SW and County Line Road SW.

Officers from the Atlanta Police Department confirmed that only one vehicle was involved in the accident, a 2008 Dodge Durango driven by 24-year-old Zyria Sensley. Sensley was the best friend of Evelyn Henderson, Janyla’s mother.

Henderson said that Sensley was driving her, Janylya, Jeffries, her friend and her son home when Sensley lost control of the vehicle and flipped it several times. Henderson said that after the crash, Sensley tried to help Janyla but then ran away from the scene. The authorities said that she was speeding.

Relatives of one of the passengers, Rob Martin, said that he told them Sensley panicked.

“He said all he could hear her say was, ‘I can’t go to jail. I ain’t going to jail, because my baby girl need me.'”

At the vigil, Henderson expressed her sorrow and thanked everyone for their support.

“This is my first time back on the scene since I found them,” said Henderson. “It’s so hard but seeing everybody here, seeing all the people; people I don’t even know people that just knew my baby, knew her father I just want to say thank everybody.”

“She was the sweetest little girl in the world,” Henderson said. “Today, we were supposed to go vote. Me and her.”

Sensley was arrested on Dec. 8 and charged with two counts of homicide by a vehicle as well as other traffic-related charges.