Teen killed in crash ‘saved’ family from violent fiance

But the violence started earlier in the night.

Cox tried to leave Reed’s family Thanksgiving gathering with the teen. After being told he could not leave with Reed, her aunt, who spoke to Channel 2 Action News but asked not to be named, said he turned violent. She said he was drunk. After he left, Reed’s aunt took the girl back to her parents’ house in Temple.

“He said nobody could stop him,” the aunt told Channel 2.

Cox showed up at the house armed with a rifle and handguns, firing at a neighbor, who is a Haralson County sheriff’s deputy.

“He shot before he came in the house, three times,” the aunt said. About three shots were fired, said Chief Deputy Brad Robinson of Carroll County.

Reed and six family members were hiding in the bathroom.

“He came in yelling for Raina, and kicked in the bathroom door and she jumped up as brave as she is and slapped him in the face and told him to stop, and he grabbed her, and she was telling him to stop, that she didn’t want to go,” her aunt said.

Reed’s aunt told Channel 2 she believed the teen agreed to leave with Cox to keep him from killing the rest of the family.

Reed was abducted from the home at gunpoint, police said.

“She’s our hero. She saved our life,” her aunt said.

Robinson said a deputy was en route to the girl's parents' home when the pair sped past. The deputy turned around, and by the time he reached the pair, the car had crashed and was on fire.

The girl was still alive when the deputy reached the car, and he tried to break the window to get her out, but she was pinned inside, Robinson said. It took fire officials hours to cut the bodies out of the car, he said.

Autopsy results are expected sometime this week.