Family Mourning after Pair Killed in Crash
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RIPLEY, Tenn. – Family members describe Debra Whitelow as the light of their lives, a dedicated mother whose death has left the family navigating the darkness. Her family said the news is so sudden they still have not full accepted it. “I just cant believe it. I just still cannot believe it ,” Debra’s cousin Glenda Rogers said. Debra’s family said the nightmare for them began Tuesday evening when she had not returned home from a trip from Nashville. Her close friend Richea Walker said she spoke with Debra about 7:00 p.m. and that was the last time anyone talked to her. “She was just such a good friend, just such a good friend,” Walker said through tears. It was around 2:00 a.m., Wednesday morning when her family received the news. A semi trying to avoid a cow in the middle of Interstate 40 crossed over the median and hit Debra’s SUV head on. The impact killed her and passenger, Trarell Robinson instantly. “We just gotta put our arms around our whole family and ask God to give us strength,” Rogers said. Debra was the caretaker of her mother and three children. Her family said the little day-to-day things are where she will be missed the most. “I wont be able to hear her voice no more. I sit outside everyday and wait for her to pass by and she said, ‘what’s up Valerie’,” Debra’s cousin Valerie Theus said. “Man, I’m really gonna miss that.” Rogers said her smile is what she was going to miss. “All the laughter! I’m just gonna miss her so much,” she said smiling through the tears. As friends and family gathered, emotions stirred from pain of the loss, to fear for the future of her children to overwhelming sadness. But nowhere was there a trace of anger, or needing someone to blame. Her family said Debra would not have wanted that. “We just gotta stay prayerful. So when stuff like this happens, we know how to take it, cause we know God he don’t make any mistakes!” Rogers said. Funeral arrangements have not yet been made for Debra Whitelow. Avery Blue is still in a Jackson hospital.
