North Texas family shattered after mother of 8 was killed in hit-and-run crash: "It's horrible, it's unreal"
LITTLE ELM (CBSNewsTexas.com) — A North Texas family is shattered after a deadly hit-and-run crash last week took the life of a 41-year-old mother of eight.
"My mom went for a walk and it was just unnerving because, usually, she'll be back very soon and she wasn't," said Aliyah Rankin, the daughter of Rosita Ushanna "Shanna" Sherfield-Rankin.
Sherfield-Rankin was out for a walk last Wednesday night when Little Elm police say she was involved in a deadly crash involving two vehicles on the 26000 block of East University Drive.
"Honestly, I screamed and I didn't even realize that that was me screaming," her daughter said. "It's horrible, it's unreal and I still don't believe it."
Rankin was the second oldest of eight children ranging in age from 5 to 24. "I just remember her as loving, caring. I know a lot of people say this but, she would have taken her shirt off her back to give to somebody else and I've seen it many times. She just...she was a mom, and a really really good mom."
She is now struggling to help her younger siblings make sense of the loss.
"I just tell my younger siblings that Mommy's in heaven and Mommy loves you, she didn't want to leave you and that, now, I'm their sister-mommy because I have to step up and take care of them," Rankin said. "They miss her every day. They tell me every 20 minutes, 'I miss Mommy,' and I'm like, 'I know, baby. I miss Mommy, too.'"
Little Elm police are looking to locate and speak to the drivers of two cars that were involved. They say one is a dark-colored SUV and the other a white Honda. One or both vehicles should have extensive damage to the front.
Rankin says her family has been left devastated by her mother's death but that they're united in their love for her, and won't stop trying to get justice.
"Please come forward," she said. "We need you to come forward. We don't know how to grasp this without even knowing exactly what happened—any little thing matters."
In the meantime, Sherfield-Rankin's family has set up a GoFundMe to help with her funeral costs and the care of her children.
