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STUDENTS
LOCAL
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Changed in a Heartbeat
Student reflects on a life-changing accident
The Shorthorn staff
The Shorthorn: Monica Lopez
Criminal justice senior LaQuita Taylor was behind the wheel in a car
accident that killed her best friend and 1-year-old son. Years later,
she is at UTA ready to graduate and move on to law school.
However, to Taylor, everything about that day was strange.
Scott insisted that her five children come along for the ride.
Scott was even dressed differently.
Scott insisted Taylor, currently a criminal justice senior, drive to
Cameron, Texas, even though Taylor didn’t know the way.
“[She] told me she wasn’t always going to be with me, and
I had to learn to do things on my own,” Taylor said.
Her whole life changed as the car she was driving flipped, killing Scott
and her 1-year-old son.
Before Scott died, she asked the paramedics to pass on a request to
her friend, “Tell LaQuita to take care of my children.”
While Taylor has overcome most of the emotional trauma from the accident,
her regret over what happened that day fuels her passion to become a
lawyer and support Scott’s remaining children.
According to the police report, the car flipped one-and-one-half to
two-and-one-half times. None of the occupants were wearing seat belts
and all were ejected except for a daughter, Shanterica Smith, age 5.
“I remember the car tumbling and flipping, it was like we were
humans in a clothes dryer,” Taylor said.
She was thrown 75 feet from the car and sustained a broken arm and dislocated
knee.
Taylor said she was driving around a curve in the road when the steering
wheel locked on the car.
The police report did not say the steering wheel locked but said the
driver was driving at a high speed and failed to negotiate the curve.
Scott, 23, and her 1-year-old son, Timilez Cook, died at the scene.
Taylor was charged with criminally negligent homicide but was no billed
by a grand jury.
She said she went into a deep state of depression after the accident.
Her mother, LaShondra Taylor, said her daughter cried all the time,
stayed in her bedroom and would not talk to her friends.
“She was worried how society would treat her because she felt
responsible for two deaths,” LaShondra Taylor said. “Her
outer appearance looked good, but inside she was torn up.”
Taylor said the turning point in her depression came when she heard
her friend’s voice.
“One day, I heard [April’s] voice telling me the accident
was not my fault and I had a great purpose in life,” Taylor said.
Taylor said it made her realize that she is destined for great things
and that she couldn’t remain depressed forever.
“I just let go,” Taylor said.
In the spring of 2003, Taylor moved to Fort Worth and enrolled at UTA.
She hopes to become a criminal defense attorney or a math statistician
working with criminal reports.
She plans to graduate in August and apply to Southern Methodist University’s
Dedman School of Law.
“She will be the first lawyer in the family,” LaShondra
Taylor said. “She will make a great lawyer because she wants to
speak on people’s behalf. I want to see her become one of the
best lawyers in Texas and do everything she can to help the remaining
children.”
Taylor hopes to become fiscally secure and provide for Scott’s
remaining children, ages 11, 10, 8 and 6.
“I know I can never replace their mom or bring her back, but I
would like to provide for them financially,” she said.
Four years later, Taylor still has a hard time when thinking about the
accident.
“I know everything is meant for a reason and happens for a reason,”
Taylor said.
Shay Washington, political science and criminal justice senior, has
known Taylor for four years. She said Taylor is outgoing and funny and
everyone loves her.
“She will be a great lawyer someday because she is very smart
and a good arguer,” Washington said. “I wouldn’t want
to go up against her in court because she brings up very good points
that are hard to argue against.”
Taylor, who recovered from the accident after nine months of therapy
and rehabilitation, said she wouldn’t take this experience back
in a heartbeat if she could. She has had plenty of time to think about
the accident and still doesn’t quite comprehend the purpose of
it.
“I guess it was so I could live on to fulfill my dreams and career,”
she said.
CORRECTION
The story should have stated LaQuita Taylor “would take this experience
back in a heartbeat if she could.” Taylor’s opinion on the
subject was misidentified in the story.
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Today
Final withdraw for non-payment -Summer II
Last date to drop or withdraw (Graduate)
Wesley Foundation Event Bible Study: 7 p.m., 311 UTA Blvd. Gospel of John. Free
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