Family speaks out after 14-year-old dies jumping out of moving vehicle

SOUTHGATE, Mich. (WTVG) - The family of a 14-year-old, who died after jumping out of a moving vehicle, is speaking out about the moments leading up to the tragedy.

Angelina Jones, 14, died three days after jumping out of a vehicle in Southgate, Michigan, on April 17, 2022.

“I don’t even know how to describe it, how hard it is to realize that she’s gone,” said Dawn Pease, who is Angeline Jones great-aunt.

Pease said Jones’s mother, Heather Yikes, 33, has been getting harassed on social media following the death of her daughter.

“She wants to grieve and this is making it very difficult,” Pease said. “My niece is to the point where she is afraid to leave the house because she thinks that everyone thinks she is a murderer.”

According to Southgate Police, Yikes was traveling on Fort Street near Pennsylvania Road in Southgate, Michigan about 7:30 p.m. on April 17, 2022. The 14-year-old and her mother allegedly got into an argument before the teen jumped out of the vehicle and sustained serious injuries. Jones was rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition and died from her injuries three days later.

“She was in the back seat of the vehicle behind her mother,” Pease said. “There is no way possible that her mom had anything to do with her jumping.”

Yikes had recently picked up Jones, who was staying at her father’s house, according to Pease, when the two got into an argument in the vehicle.

“She had turned the car around because they got into an argument and she said she was taking her back to her dad’s,” said Pease. “For whatever reason, she jumped out the car.”

Pease explained that her niece then stopped the vehicle.

“She jumped out of the car to grab her out of the middle of the road because she was afraid she was going to get hit by a car,” she said. “Thankfully, nobody hit her.”

During the investigation, police arrested Yikes for suspicion of operating under the influence. She was released pending toxicology results.

“This is just a horrible thing and nobody intended this,” Pease said. “My niece loved her daughter more than life itself. She would have jumped out of the car if she could have.”

Investigators with Southgate Police said they are still waiting on results from the toxicology report and no charges have been filed.

The incident remains under investigation.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please include the title when you click here to report it.

Copyright 2022 WTVG. All rights reserved.