Fulbright Scholar & Parkville Native Dies In Car Accident In Morocco
TOWSON, Md. (WJZ)-- She planned to be a leader of tomorrow but now, a young Parkville woman is dead, killed in a car crash while studying abroad.
Monique Griego has more from her grieving family about her life and death.
After graduating among the top of her class at Towson High School, this young woman became a Fulbright scholar and planned a career in foreign service. That bright future was cut short by a tragic car accident.
Kelly Dalla Tezza was just 22 years old but had already seen more of the world than most folks see in their lifetime.
"This is the worst time of my life," Meg Dalla Tezza, Kelly Dalla Tezza's mother, said.
Meg Dalla Tezza says on Friday, her daughter spoke at a Fulbright conference in Morocco but later blew a tire and lost control of her car.
"The other passengers in the car survived, but my daughter Kelly did not. It's like a dagger was just stuck into my heart, and I know that my life will never be the same," she said.
Kelly Dalla Tezza's parents and younger brother are devastated, but are also left with lasting memories of the little girl who blossomed into a brilliant woman.
She studied Islamic civilization at Boston College and traveled to many parts of the world and had temporarily moved to Bahrain to research women's political roles there. She started her own blog and wanted to dispel misconceptions many people have about the Middle East.
"She would tell me, 'Mom, you would not believe how kind the people are,'" Meg Dalla Tezza said. "So whenever she was anywhere and the people would talk about the Middle East, she wanted to make sure that people were aware of all the good that was there."
"She liked also showing people there about our culture here so she hosted a Thanksgiving dinner," Meg Dalla Tezza added. "She put up a Christmas tree at Christmas time. You couldn't ask for a better child than Kelly. There is just going to be a huge hole in my heart because I'm not going to have that bundle of energy anymore."
Her family is now making funeral arrangements. It could be up to two weeks before Kelly Dalla Tezza's body is returned to the United States.
Kelly Dalla Tezza had recently been accepted to do her post-graduate work at Harvard University, George Washington University and Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C. She had not yet decided which school she would attend.
