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Woman killed crossing road was mother of 5, family says

Posted at 8:32 PM, Jun 25, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-25 20:33:55-04

IONIA, Mich. — Brandi Holford's family said they're taking things one day a time after the 32-year-old's untimely death.

Holford died Thursday night after being hit by a pickup truck in Ionia on State Road near Tuttle Road. Ionia County deputies said she had just left work at the gas station and was crossing the road.

"The first thing that kept going through my mind was 'it's not my kid. You're mistaken. It's not my kid,'"Jeri Garvey, Holford's mother said.

"It didn't actually sink in until her dad called me and said 'Jeri, it is Brandi, and she has passed,'" Garvey added.

A makeshift memorial is set up near where the fatal accident occurred.

"It's been very rough because she was my oldest," Garvey stated.

Garvey said she saw her daughter just two days before the crash and couldn't have imagined that that'd be the last time. Holford leaves behind five children between four and ten years old.

Garvey said, "I had guardianship of them. My goal now is I'm going to try to adopt them into the home so that they're more stable."

A loved one set up a Gofundme page (link here) for the family as Holford didn't have life insurance, and the family prepares for her funeral.

"I want to take her ashes... I'm going to get five teddy bears, and I'm going to have her ashes put inside each one of these teddy bears so that the kids, each one of her kids have a piece of their mom with them always," Garvey explained.

Deputies said the 22-year-old driver stopped after hitting Holford and has been cooperative. They don't think drugs and alcohol were involved. The accident remains under investigation.