Family Mourns Loss of Woman Killed in Car Fire
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EAST JACKSON, Tenn. — For the first time, friends of the woman killed in a bizarre weekend car fire talk about the loss of the young mother. “I’m not gonna see her no more,” Shantay McKenzie, her girlfriend of six years, said. McKenzie said her girlfriend, Taleisha Souter, was always looking out for others. “She was a loving, caring, do anything for you, I mean anything. She’ll give you the shirt off her back,” McKenzie said. Souter’s family said the 25-year-old was helping her ex-boyfriend who had run out of gas, when she died early Sunday morning. Police believe he was carrying the gas in an open container while riding in Souter’s passenger’s seat. The deadly fire ignited when police said Souter lit a cigarette. “She has a 2-year-old son that wakes up in the morning and looks at me and says, ‘Where momma?’ What am I supposed to tell a 2-year-old that really don’t understand?,” McKenzie asked. Whitley Hodges, who calls Souter her best friend, said Souter inspired her to be a better mother. Friends and family said they still have many questions about how Souter died, but for now, they mourn the one who took care of them all. The passenger in the car fire has been released from the hospital with minor injuries. Police said the investigation is ongoing. The family said funeral arrangements for Souter have been set.
