An Ohio mother died Thursday after jumping in front of her car to save her sleeping 6-year-old son from carjackers who threw her onto the sidewalk.
According to city police, Alexa Steakley, 29, was on her way to pick up her son from a babysitter’s apartment in the 6300 block of Blue Knoll Drive in Canal Winchester when she put him in a car seat and went back inside the apartment to get his belongings around 1:30 a.m.
When she went outside again, she saw a stranger sitting in the driver’s seat of a 2022 Honda SUV.
She tried to stop him by jumping on the bonnet, and he stepped on the accelerator, throwing her to the pavement and causing fatal head injuries.
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In a photo provided by Columbus police, Alexa Steakley, 29, a speech therapist, poses with a child in a school hallway after authorities say she was carjacked and killed early Thursday after trying to stop two men from driving away with her 6-year-old child asleep in the back seat. (Columbus Police Department)
Police were searching for two men in connection with the incident who allegedly abandoned a car in the road, fled the scene and jumped a fence to a nearby apartment building. Authorities said they were among a group of people seen looking through a security camera window earlier that night.
Police found the child inside the abandoned car. There were no physical injuries.
Police said Steakley, who had a master’s degree from Ohio State University and worked as a speech-language pathologist at a local elementary school, was a single mother who worked a side job as a waitress to help support her son and would pick him up after work.
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Police described the approximate route taken by two men who fled the scene in the stolen vehicle and on foot. (Columbus Police Department)
“She was a wonderful mother who was incredibly devoted to her son,” school officials said. Post a statement “Ms. Steakley made a difference in the lives of the students and families she worked with, and she will be missed by many in our community and beyond,” the school district posted on its website.
Police are asking anyone with information about the suspect to call Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS. Anyone with security video that shows the incident or the suspect in the area is asked to submit it to: This link.
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The case is a deadly example of a troubling trend, according to the advocacy group Kids & Car Safety, which has tallied 56 reported incidents nationwide so far this year in which children were left alone in cars that were then stolen.
Alexa Steakley, who worked as a speech-language pathologist for the Canal Winchester School District, is pictured in a black-and-white portrait shared by the district. (Canal Winchester Local Schools)
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“Thiefs target cars that have been left unattended with the engine running or the keys left inside,” Amber Rollins, the group’s executive director, said in a statement. “Most of the time, thieves don’t realize there are children inside the car until they steal it.”
Rollins urges parents to never leave children or pets alone in the car, regardless of their age, and says they should lock the doors every time they get out of the car, even if just to get gas.
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Businesses offering drive-thru or curbside service have built-in safety features so parents don’t have to get out of their cars, she said.
“If the store doesn’t offer curbside delivery, call them when you arrive and ask them to bring your order out to your car,” she added. “Tell them you have small children and most stores will be happy to oblige. It takes a village.”
