By By Lee Weyhrich
Three!
That was the number of times Ashley Banks' car flipped before landing on its roof the night of March 5. That was also the number of passengers that were thrown through the back windshield of the car before it stopped.
"We were coming back from the mall," wreck survivor Tamera Johnson, 20, of Atmore said. "Me, Katrina Flowers (22), Ashley Banks (22) and JaQuan Madison (4) and Latericka Banks (1) were coming back from the mall in Pensacola when Ashley Banks lost control of the car. We just ran into some bushes and flipped three times."
The accident, which occurred near Piggly Wiggly on Hwy. 97, just south of Atmore, claimed the life of 22-year-old Katrina Flowers and left her son, four-year-old JaQuan Flowers in critical condition. JaQuan suffered severe head injuries and is still unresponsive.
"JaQuan is doing much better, he's alert, but he's not responding," JaQuan's grandmother and Katrina's mother, Cassandra Craft, said. "There's blood on his brain, his eyes are opening and he's moving, but he's not responding. It's going to take some time; he may have to have some rehab later."
No one escaped the wreck without injury.
"Ashley had three broken ribs and a burn from the airbag and one of her teeth came out," Johnson said. "Latericka Banks had a concussion and she was treated and released the next day. I just hurt my back and got a torn ligament in my left shoulder."
Everyone except the driver was thrown from the car as it bounced towards the woods. Johnson is unsure exactly how she ended up outside the car unless the passenger door opened.
"I was thrown out the car, everyone was thrown out the car except for Ashley and they had to pull Ashley out the driver's seat with the Jaws of Life," Johnson said. "I was thrown from the car, but I must have blacked out. My door probably opened, the front windshield wasn't busted. Katrina and JaQuan and Latericka were all in the backseat and they (the children) were thrown from the back windshield in their safety seats."
Dazed, Johnson went looking for help following the accident.
"I got up and went to the road to find help, I don't know their names, but two white males and a white female stopped, she said. "One of the men called the police and they (the men) had a flashlight going through the woods to find Latericka and everyone else's bodies."
The two children were found in the woods, with Katrina's body nearby.
According to Craft, doctors still do not know whether JaQuan will suffer any permanent damage.
Funeral services for Katrina Flowers will be held at 2 p.m. today at Gaines Chapel in Atmore.
As of Friday Afternoon no change has been found in JaQuan's condition.