A Florida woman killed along with her 3-year-old daughter Wednesday afternoon on I-75 had just arrived in Atlanta, where she hoped to get a fresh start, her family said.
Queene Roux, 28, was driving north through Clayton County with five of her children when she collided with another car about 12:30 p.m., officials said.
She was ejected from the vehicle along with 3-year-old Queen, who was named after her mother. Neither of them survived, Clayton police said. Her other four children, three boys and a girl, were rushed to the hospital with injuries ranging from broken limbs to concussions, according to Tiffany Roux, Queene Roux’s cousin.
The young mother lived in Sebring, Florida, and worked at a McDonald’s. But she struggled to make ends meet and hoped to make a better life for her children in Atlanta. So she packed what belongings she could and hit the road, her grieving family said.
“Sebring is a small town with limited opportunities,” Tiffany Roux told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Atlanta is big with endless possibilities. She just wanted to get a fresh start for her and her children.”
At the time of the fatal wreck, Roux hadn’t even been in Atlanta a full day, she said.
She described her cousin as an eclectic person with an outgoing personality. Queene Roux adored her children, she said, and was just trying to give them more.
“It was just devastating,” Tiffany Roux said, especially for the older children, ages 7 and 9, who are “fully aware” of what happened to their mother. “She was so young and just trying to do right by them.”
Credit: Family Photo
Credit: Family Photo
Roux’s family tried to convince her to stay in Florida, but her mind was made up. Now, her cousin wonders what she could have said or done to keep her from leaving.
As soon as she found out about the wreck, Tiffany Roux left Florida so she could comfort her nephews and niece at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, she said. The children have since been released from the hospital, as well as the other driver involved in the crash, according to police.
Following the deadly wreck near the Forest Parkway off-ramp, a driver stopped alongside the interstate and performed CPR. She also used her body to shield the other children from traffic and comforted them until first responders arrived, Tiffany Roux said.
The surviving children were on their way back to Florida on Friday afternoon, but they’ll likely need counseling after witnessing their mother and sister’s death. In the meantime, Tiffany Roux is trying to get them new clothes and into a stable environment while making funeral arrangements.
“I’m just trying to cope with it all and do what I need to so we can get the mom and the baby (buried),” she said.
An online fundraiser set up to transport Queen Roux and her daughter back to Florida and help pay for their funerals had raised more than $26,000 as of Friday. Arrangements are still being finalized and the deadly wreck remains under investigation.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
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