LAKE DON PEDRO, Calif. — A woman killed in a wrong-way crash near Lake Don Pedro last week is remembered by loved ones for an infectious laugh that never failed to bring joy.
“She likes to have fun, if you ever heard her, her laugh... Her laugh was contagious. You would tell her something funny, and it would just, you hear her laughing, (it) would make everybody else feel her joy,” said Romy Walton, the victim's sister-in-law.
Walton knew that woman as Janelle Hall, the kind and patient La Grange mother of two and wife to her Iraq War veteran husband.
Hall was killed after a wrong-way driver illegally crossed double yellow lines to pass another car while going 100 mph on a mountain road. The crash also killed the wrong-way driver and his two passengers.
"Crossed over the double yellow, and on a blind corner and ran into Janelle,” said Walton.
“He pushed her car back 106 feet, the impact at which she was struck, the only saving grace is that she didn't suffer,” added Erin Vereschagin, another sister-in-law of Hall.
Hall left behind her two children, a 10-year-old and 8-year-old, and her husband. Vereschagin said Hall was not only her husband's primary caregiver and wife but also his protector.
"He was on the front lines and came back with some struggles, and she saved him," said Vereschagin. "She was his caregiver for all this time and now even more so. So to lose her is really unfair."
Some details surrounding the crash remain unclear, but Vereschagin said Hall was on her way back from the DMV when it happened. She said law enforcement told her there was no way her sister-in-law could have avoided the crash.
For the two sisters, the crash and its aftermath are difficult to make sense of.
“What are you doing up here driving 100 miles per hour in our neighborhoods, like you killed, you killed our sister-in-law. I know he also died as a result of his reckless driving as well as his passengers too, but this all could have been avoidable, all of it,” said Walton.
“It's about 800 feet from a stop sign, like what on earth were you doing that you were going that fast?... I don't understand it, and it's so infuriating,” added Vereschagin.
While the family struggles with the loss, they are also trying to move their way forward.
"It's been the worst thing that's ever happened in our life. People are supposed to die when they're older. We've had, obviously, grandparents pass, but nothing like this,” said Vereschagin.
To help the family, Walton set up a GoFundMe. It would cover the burial expenses and help support Hall's children, who are struggling to understand their mom won't be coming home.
After talking to their own families about safe behind the wheel, Vereschagin and Walton have a simple message for everybody and anybody on the road: slow down and avoid this from happening to anyone else.
“Slow down, slow down. It's not, you'll get there. It's OK. If you're late, whatever was going on, there's no need to go that fast,” said Vereschagin.
"Always think about those that are around you. It's not just about you. It's about everybody," added Walton.
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