Ka'Sheena Daniels, 31, killed on I-10 after stopping to pull her neighbor from a flipped car
The New Orleans mother stopped on westbound I-10 near Elysian Fields on Sept. 25 to pull a trapped driver from a flipped car. A second vehicle struck the stopped cars and sent her over the side.
NEW ORLEANS: Ka'Sheena Daniels, 31, died the night of Sept. 25 on westbound Interstate 10 near Elysian Fields Avenue after she stopped to pull a trapped driver from a flipped car and was struck by another vehicle, according to New Orleans police and her family.
Daniels was out with close friends when they saw the flipped car on the interstate. Her friend Franchon Williams, who was with her, told Fox 8 (WVUE) that Daniels recognized the driver as her neighbor and jumped out to help get the woman out of the car, and that only moments passed before Daniels was struck.
Police said the chain of events began when a speeding car made a sudden lane change and flipped, trapping its driver. New Orleans police public information officer Jonathan Morris told People the first crash happened about 10:20 p.m., after the speeding car struck the left guardrail, whipped back across the road, and flipped. Several motorists stopped, and the group managed to free the driver. Then a second vehicle struck one of the stopped cars, pushing it into the crowd of helpers, and several others were injured.
Williams said Daniels pulled her neighbor from the car, then was struck and went over the side of the elevated interstate. In the chaos, the group could not find her. "They put their flashlight down there. It's my friend. She's just down there," Williams said.
Daniels was born and raised in New Orleans, had just celebrated a birthday, and was raising her adopted son, Noah, while working in accounting, her mother, O'Sheenana Daniels, said. "She just was that girl," her mother said. "If you needed help...and she could do it, it was done."
Williams told the New York Post that Daniels had planned to start paramedic school with her the following week. A GoFundMe page raising money for funeral expenses carries a tribute reading that "Ka'Sheena died a hero" and that she "put someone else's life before her own."
Her mother's grief came through in a single line. "It's sad to say, but I wish she just never would have helped," O'Sheenana Daniels said.
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