The 4-year-old granddaughter of a Paulding County Sheriff’s Office detention officer was killed Tuesday in a car accident, officials said.
Alora Rose Sell was involved in a crash on Ga. 101 South, which is in the Union community, the sheriff’s office wrote in a post Wednesday on the agency’s Facebook page.
The driver of the truck that hit the vehicle from behind, Tyler Arron Taylor, 20, of Dallas, said he was “distracted,” according to the Georgia State Patrol report.
“(Taylor) stated that he dropped a bottle and his phone in the floor of his vehicle,” the trooper wrote in the report. “(Taylor) stated that he was leaning down to pick up the items when he noticed (the other vehicle) stopped.”
He said he tried to stop but could not before hitting the vehicle.
The GSP will conduct a follow-up investigation.
On a GoFundMe page created to assist the family with funeral costs and other expenses, Alora’s mother said she left work to pick up two of her children from her parents’ house.
Haley Borders Sell said she, Alora and her 3-year-old son were hit from behind by a speeding vehicle.
“She was barely alive as my dad pulled her from my van and I administered CPR,” she wrote. “My other children watched. This has been a nightmare that I just want to wake from.”
More than $4,000 in donations have poured into the GoFundMe page. The goal is $20,000.
“I’m banged up pretty bad,” Sell said. “My vehicle (is) totaled.”
She said the worst part is, “I’m planning a funeral instead of a trolls birthday party for my sweet beautiful baby girl.”