Mother Of North Texas Student Athlete Killed In Crash Speaks: 'I Did Not Know How Much My Baby Was Loved By So Many'
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Monday night there was a huge show of love for a Tarrant County teen.
Around 200 people attended a candlelight vigil outside the Chisholm Trail Community Center to honor and remember Erica Womack.
The 18-year-old died in a car crash last week in Oklahoma. The car she was in hit an icy patch and slid into a semi.
"It was a lot of sadness, but through that sadness and pain as you can see there's a lot of smiling," Erica's mother Kimberly Jackson said. "I did not know how much my baby was loved by so many."
One by one, Erica's family, friends and track teammates stepped up to share how she touched them.
"She was just always funny, good energy and everything," one person said.
"Whenever I was down, she would pick me up," another said.
"She was a big sister, a role model and someone I could look up to," another said.
Erica ran track for the Fort Worth Flyers Track Club and North Crowley High School before receiving a track scholarship to Rogers State University last fall.
She currently holds the university's freshman record for the indoor 60 meter dash.
"In the running community everyone knows her," Taylor Carr said.
Erica's teammates said she inspired them to be better.
"She deserves to be honored and remembered," Carr said.
"I want y'all to take all the memories that y'all have of my baby and make it shine," Jackson said. "Really be golden."
Erica's funeral will take place Saturday. There is a funeral fund that has been set up by her family.