COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Franklin County Coroner’s Office released the autopsy report for a 29-year-old mother who died saving her son from a stolen vehicle in southeast Columbus this summer.
Alexa Stakely died on July 11 from blunt impacts to the head and extremities with skull and brain injuries, according to the report. Her death was ruled a homicide. Three suspects, including two 16-year-olds, are charged in her death.
Stakely arrived at an apartment complex in the overnight hours that day to pick up her 6-year-old son from her babysitter’s apartment. Columbus police said she initially brought the boy to her Honda CRV, which she had left running, then returned to the babysitter’s unit to get the child’s belongings.
As she returned to her vehicle, Stakely saw someone starting to back it out onto the roadway and she ran toward the SUV, screaming for her son and telling the driver to stop.
Stakely was struck by the vehicle and knocked to the pavement, suffering a head injury. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The suspects abandoned the car a short distance away from where Stakely was struck, police said.
Surveillance video released by Columbus police shows two of the three suspects running behind Stakely's SUV just after it was stolen. Police say those two suspects met up with the driver once the car was abandoned and all three continued northbound.
One of the suspects, a 16-year-old boy, turned himself in to police and admitted to stealing the vehicle and hitting Stakely with it. The teen said that he and two others were looking for a vehicle to steal when they saw Stakely's Honda, police said. As the two friends watched, the teen said he got into Stakely's SUV and was about to drive off when she appeared in front of the vehicle.
Police identified and interviewed a second 16-year-old boy who they said admitted to being present during the incident.
Police said 19-year-old Gerald Dowling later admitted to his involvement in the incident as well. He was initially charged with murder but was later indicted on charges of manslaughter, grand theft of a motor vehicle and receiving stolen property.
The teens were charged with murder. A Franklin County juvenile court judge has requested that the teens be tried as adults.