Memorial at Monroe park will remember teen who died in prom night car crash

A new memorial in a city park will remember a Monroe High School senior who died from injuries sustained in a car crash while on her way to prom.

An Ohio Buckeye tree will be planted and a memorial marker erected at Monroe Crossings Park in honor of Kaylie Jackson, 17, who died April 30.

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“It was something that needed to be done,” Monroe resident Chris Humfleet, who advocated the city for the memorial, told the Journal-News.

A buckeye tree was selected because Jackson, who would have turned 18 this month, had planned to attend Ohio State University in the fall to major in pre-medicine.

Natorp’s Nursery is donating a 7-foot Buckeye tree as well as the labor to plant it, according to Humfleet. In addition, Schott Monument is preparing a flat granite marker that will be engraved with Jackson’s name and the words ‘You are my sunshine,’ which were selected by her parents, he said.

The marker, which was paid for by a friend of Jackson’s family, was ordered Wednesday, according to Monroe resident Leslie King, whose daughter played soccer with Jackson.

“It’s something that everyone will see,” she said.

Jackson, 17, died as a result of her injuries following an April 27 car crash near the intersection of Millikin and Butler Warren roads as she and three others were en route to Monroe High School’s prom. Jackson, a backseat passenger in the vehicle, was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, according to the Butler County Sheriff’s Office.

Chynna Brandon, 17, was driving the 2013 Tesla, when it veered off the right side of the road, over-corrected, traveled into a ditch, struck a fence and sideswiped a telephone pole, according to the accident report from the sheriff’s office.

Brandon is scheduled to appear July 16 in Butler County Juvenile Court on charges of aggravated vehicular assault and two counts of vehicular assault.

Two other passengers in the car suffered injuries and were treated and released from the hospital.

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