“He Went Limp In My Arms”: 17 Chilling Accidents That Took People’s Lives In The Scariest Ways

With flowers in his hand and his wife by his side, Humberto Hernandez was ready to enjoy a romantic night on the town. 

The couple had just moved to the US and were living in a trailer. 

But a 500-pound piece of iron came out of nowhere and took the family’s life in a different direction.

“I’ve seen a lot of accidents but never anything like this,” Oakland police Lt. Fausto Melara said at the time.

It was a Thursday evening at around 5:52 p.m.

Humberto had just bought flowers and cherries and was heading to a restaurant with his wife on an East Bay street in Oakland, California, in 2007.

At the same time, a 45-year-old Danville woman was driving in the same area when her tire blew, causing her to swerve onto the sidewalk.

Her 2007 Ford Escape slammed into a fire hydrant, and the impact was so strong it uprooted the massive chunk of metal and sent it hurling in the air.

It was flying like a “bullet,” said Phil Abrams, an Alameda County deputy sheriff.

The hulking fire hydrant struck the back of Humberto’s head, but didn’t stop there.

“He was walking a bit ahead of his wife and then, all of a sudden, he is in the line of fire,” Motorcycle Officer Eddie Bermudez said.

After taking Humberto down, the fire hydrant continued on and pierced through a fence before landing another 20 feet away.

Officer Eddie said Humberto “would not have gotten hit” if he were just a foot to the left or right on the very same pavement.

It was a “million-to-one chance” that he got struck by a fire hydrant, he said, adding: “You can’t even pick those things up.”

Humberto, unfortunately, lost his life at the scene. 

His wife walked away from the incident unharmed, but tragically lost her husband, leaving her with “no relatives here, no money, no nothing. It was just her and her husband.” one investigator said. 

“I've seen people hit fire hydrants but never anyone k*lled by a flying fire hydrant,” said another officer.

A seemingly harmless high school prank took a fatal turn when beloved teacher Jason Hughes, 40, lost his life in Gainesville, Georgia.

The math teacher was targeted by a bunch of high schoolers last week, as part of what was dubbed the annual junior vs. senior prank war at North Hall County High.

As per the rules, pranksters would get one point if they targeted students and two points if they targeted teachers or coaches.

Another three points would be granted if the administrative staff were their victims. 

If they were “caught with people from other schools or freshmen/sophomores,” they would lose three points.

The rules further stated that pranksters could only target houses and not cars or mailboxes. “No food drink, no saran wrap, no eggs, no paint, no weapons…” the rules further stated.

On March 5, shortly before Jason lost his life, the school district released a statement warning students about participating in the prank wars.

“While we understand that prom is a time for celebration and creating lasting memories, we must emphasize the importance of responsible behavior and respect for others and their property,” the statement said.

“In previous years, some pranks during prom season–sometimes referred to as Junior/Senior Wars– have gone too far, resulting in damage to property,” they added.

Despite warnings, 18-year-old Jayden Wallace showed up at the teacher’s house and successfully toilet-papered his home with his four accomplices, Elijiah Owens, Aiden Hucks, Ana Katherine Luque, and Ariana Cruz.

The deceased teacher knew that his home would be targeted, since both he and his wife, Laura, were teachers at the school.

“There was no ‘confrontation.’ Jason knew the students were coming and he was excited and waiting to ‘catch them’ in the act,” the teacher’s family said in a statement to 11Alive.

While the students tried to drive away in a pickup truck, Jason ran out of the house to try to catch them, but he “accidentally slipped” as it was raining at the time, the family said.

He fell onto the road “in front of the vehicle” and was run over by the vehicle with Jayden behind the wheel. 

“The students immediately tried to provide aid until paramedics arrived,” the statement said. “Jason loved these students and they loved him too.”

The family asserted that they wanted the charges against the involved students to be dropped.

Jayden was arrested and initially charged with first-degree vehicular homicide, reckless driving, criminal trespass, and littering, while the four other students involved were charged with criminal trespass and littering.

But all charges were later dropped.

Jayden spoke about the tragic prank and vowed to honor the deceased teacher for the rest of his life.

“I pledge to live out the remainder of my life in a manner that honors the memory of Coach Hughes by exemplifying Christ,” the grieving student said in a statement. “He will never be forgotten.”

The teenager’s parents also released a statement, saying their family was in “deep remorse” and was “grieving over such a tremendous loss in our North Hall community.”

The parents went on to say that the deceased teacher was an important figure in their son’s life.

“Jason Hughes meant the world to our son, Jayden. He took the time to invest in Jay and poured his love into him, making a lasting impact,” the family said.

“Along with the rest of our family, Jay expresses his deepest sorrow and sincerest apology to the Hughes family,” they added.

Adrienne Jones-McAllister was right there when it happened, close enough to try and hold onto her husband, Keith McAllister, but still unable to do anything to save him.

The wife recalled how 61-year-old Keith’s body went “limp” in her arms. And in the blink of an eye, she went from being a patient to a witness to her own husband’s passing.

On July 16, 2025, Adrienne had visited the Nassau Open MRI in Westbury, New York, and had just finished getting an MRI on her knee.

She then asked the technician to fetch her husband from outside the room because she needed help getting up.

One item was overlooked that day and proved to be fatal: the 20-pound chain hanging around Keith’s neck.

As the husband entered the room and walked towards the table, Adrienne “saw the MRI machine snatch him” and “pull him” in by the necklace.

“In that instant, the machine switched him around, pulled him in, and he hit the MRI," she told News 12 Long Island.

“He went limp in my arms, and this is still pulsating in my brain,” Adrienne recalled the horrifying moment.

MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) rooms in hospitals house some of the most powerful magnets, which are always active and can pull metal objects with incredible strength.

Patients are normally asked to remove all metal and electrical items before undergoing an MRI.

MRI scans give doctors detailed images of the inside of a patient’s body, especially soft tissues that don’t show up clearly on X-rays or CT scans. The very same machine became the reason for Keith’s passing, all because of a 20-pound chain.

Adrienne said she and the technician tried to pull her husband off of the machine.

“I was saying, ‘Could you turn off the machine? Call 911. Do something. Turn this damn thing off!’” the wife said.

She claimed the technician had seen Keith wearing the same chain before. “That was not the first time that guy has seen that chain,” she told the outlet. “They had a conversation about it before.”

Officials said Keith succumbed to his injuries and had suffered several heart attacks following the incident. He was “declared deceased by a hospital physician,” the police said in their update.

Days after losing her husband, Adrienne said she loved her husband “so much” and was struggling to cope with his loss.

“I haven’t been able to sleep, I’m barely eating, I just can’t believe [it],” she said through tears. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around the whole thing. He waved goodbye to me, and his whole body went limp.”

Kimberly Shultz found her daughter, Brianne “Bri” Marie Rapp, unresponsive on the bathroom floor of their Pennsylvania home in 2018.

The 17-year-old girl, like any other school day, was getting ready and went in for a shower at around 6:45 a.m.

Her mother was asleep at the time.

When Kimberly eventually decided to check in on her daughter, she entered the bathroom to find the teenager unconscious in the bathtub.

The mother then frantically called Michael Rapp, her ex and Brianne’s father, who lived in a completely different address. 

“She was hysterical on the phone and she told me she was gone. I thought maybe she ran away or something. I didn’t realize she meant she passed away,” Michael recalled.

Deputy Coroner Larry Barr said the likely cause of her passing was drowning, possibly after falling and getting her hair caught in the drain.

“We’re thinking she blacked out in the bathtub and fell and hit her head and was found by my ex,” the father told KDKA at the time. “We don’t know if maybe her hair clogged the drain, but the tub overflowed.”

Michael said the teenager was on medication for her thyroid, and it had caused her to faint in the past. But he wasn’t sure if it was related to the bathroom incident that took her life.

Brianne left behind her parents as well as a younger brother, Tyler, and a sister, Maddy, who were aged 12 and 4 when they lost their older sister.

“I’ll miss her smiling face and her great personality and wanting the best out of life,” her dad told the outlet.

“Her mother and I are so proud to have raised a girl that people have so many nice things to say,” he added.

The lifeless body of Barry Griffiths, 57, lay in his UK apartment for several days until cops finally carried out a welfare check on July 4, 2023.

During a court session, Barry was described as a “very private” man who had “limited contact with others.”

He was living alone in Powys, Wales, when the police arrived at his doorstep about a week after his life came to an end.

There was no sign of a struggle, no intruder, and no obvious explanation for why there was blood spattered all through his kitchen and bedroom.

Barry’s body was found fully clothed on his bed, while his phone, wallet, and computer were untouched for days.

The case took a turn when detectives noticed a couple of uncooked burger patties in the kitchen.

“The bottom drawer of the freezer had been left open and pulled forward in a position to access food items,” Detective Chief Inspector Jonathan Rees said in court.

“On the work surface in the kitchen adjacent to the fridge-freezer were two uncooked burgers, a knife and a tea towel,” he went on to say.

Jonathan said his “hypothesis” was that Barry used the knife to try to separate the frozen burgers when he accidentally plunged the knife into his stomach.

“The wound to the abdomen would have been approximately the height of the work surface,” he added.

Coroner Patricia Morgan said Barry had earlier suffered a stroke that reduced mobility in one of his arms. He also suffered from a condition known as atherosclerosis, which causes plaque to clog up his arteries.

These conditions could have caused restricted blood flow to his heart and led to his passing.

The evidence is “difficult to hear and traumatic,” the coroner told family members in court.

“Thank you for your patience while the investigation was ongoing,” Patricia said. “I express my condolences at this difficult time.”

There was nothing unusual about the moment. Amanda Klem was doing some yard work when a lawnmower brought her life to an end.

Amanda was a former Indiana sheriff’s deputy and was also part of the firefighting community.

She was married to Huntingburg Police Department Corporal Ted Klem, and their daughter Madison was only 8 months old at the time of her passing.

In August, 2024, Amanda was outdoors using a lawnmower near a pond.

Unfortunately, the machine flipped, trapped her, and held her down underwater. She tragically drowned, leaving her husband and daughter behind.

The Spencer County Sheriff’s Office said her loss left a “profound void” in the department.

“Amanda served the Sheriff’s office with unwavering dedication and professionalism for nearly seven years, making a lasting impact on all who knew her,” said the statement from the sheriff’s office.

They said Amanda’s kindness, strength, and commitment to public service were evident every single day, and she would be remembered for “her compassionate spirit and the joy she brought to those around her.”

Sheriff Sherri Heichelbech with the Spencer County Sheriff’s Office spoke about how Amanda was a dedicated officer.

“In 2020, I believe it was, she received a life-saving award, and it was for her actions during an emergency response situation, she was able to render aid and help save somebody’s life,” the sheriff told 44News.

On the day before her 44th birthday, Rosanna Hashem was in the front yard of her home in the south-west of Sydney, Australia, enjoying a quiet moment with her close friend Amanda Hancock when she lost her life in February, 2025.

Friends and family had gathered together in Rosanna’s garden and were gearing up for a barbecue to celebrate her birthday. 

The kids were running around and splashing in the pool when Rosanna and Amanda decided to take a break from the kitchen and sit on some chairs in the garden. Their husbands, meanwhile, were moving the barbecue to a shaded area, away from the light rain.

Sitting inches away from each other, Rosanna and Amanda were joking and laughing as they tried to pose for a Snapchat picture.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, lightning struck a tree just about 30 feet away from them, causing Amanda’s phone to explode. The impact also caused a tree to “explode” and send shards of wood flying, leaving Rosanna with life-threatening head wounds.

“It just started to rain, and then all of a sudden just the loudest bang we’ve ever heard,” neighbor Rob Campisi told the Daily Telegraph following the incident.

Amanda recalled the horrifying moments and said, “It was like an atomic bomb had gone off.”

“I remember seeing a light. It was so bright... And the noise. It was deafening,” she told 7News.

“I don’t know how much time had passed, but I woke up on the ground and my husband was standing over me saying ‘Amanda, Amanda, stay awake,’” she added.

The friend said their husbands were closer to the tree than they were as they were moving the barbecue at the time. But “they just got a few scratches,” she said.

Amanda was rushed to the hospital and received medical attention for injuries to her jaw and hand.

While Amanda lived to tell the tale, her dear friend Rosanna sadly did not. The 43-year-old woman succumbed to her injuries from the flying debris.

“Both women had been seated about six meters from a large tree, and this had been struck by a lightning bolt, which literally caused the tree to explode, sending debris all over the place,” NSW Ambulance Inspector David Kynaston said at the time, calling it a “very traumatic and tragic incident for the family.”

Amanda, who lost a finger in the incident, struggled to cope with the loss of her friend.

“It’s just not fair,” she told the outlet. “Why her and not me?”

“I was sitting right next to her, just 30 centimeters away. How can one person be spared?”

The friend said it was a social worker who broke the news to her in the hospital.

“I still don’t understand how. We were right next to each other. Our knees were nearly touching,” she said.

While authorities suspected it was the wooden shards that caused their injuries, Amanda believed it was the lightning itself.

“I just know in my heart it was the lightning. It hit her, it hit me,” she said.

“There was more than one (bolt) to it. It was like it branched out,” she added. “There was a fire in the backyard.”

Amanda said she was going to dearly miss her friendship with Rosanna and wanted the world to remember her as an amazing mother of four.

“She was just a beautiful person,” she said about the deceased founder of The Groomery, a local cat grooming business.

“She was compassionate, caring, and an animal lover,” said the grieving friend. “ ... She was an angel on earth in the physical form, and she definitely is one now.”

The safest moment for Ana Paula de Jesus was supposed to be when her feet touched solid ground. But fate had other ideas.

The 30-year-old woman took a zip line ride in the tourist region of Alto Cruzeiro, Brazil, earlier this year.

Ana made it through the entire ride without a problem. But right after being disconnected from the zip line cable, a lightning strike cut her life short in seconds.

The storm was strong enough to cause a power outage in the city.

Tirolesa Pôr do Sol, the company responsible for the zip line attraction, said they had already closed the activity by the time the lightning struck.

They also claimed Ana set out on the ride when the weather was fine, and things went normally until she got off the cable.

Autumn McClure’s life was alarmingly taken in front of her boyfriend and her younger brother as they were driving down a Georgia roadway.

On an ordinary August morning in 2024, the 20-year-old woman and her boyfriend, Tyler Nunley, were driving her younger brother to daycare when the incident took place.

Autumn was sitting in the passenger seat of the boyfriend’s car when the brake drum of another car flew off and crashed through the windshield.

The object struck her in the chest and neck and “k*lled her almost instantly,” making for “a crazy car accident” on I-75, just north of the state border, her sister Simone Matherly said on social media.

The youngster lost her life within moments, even before emergency services could arrive, said her loved ones, who noted that she would have turned 21 within a month if the brake caliper hadn’t taken her life. 

After graduating as the salutatorian of the Soddy-Daisy High School class of 2022, Autumn went on to study graphic design at Chattanooga State Community College.

Her boyfriend, who witnessed the fatal accident unfold before his eyes, called her the “brightest, most spectacular part of [his] life.”

“You made such an amazing impact on my life by helping me grow into the person I am today. You were the most amazing person I’ll ever meet,” he wrote on social media.

The accident victim’s twin sister, Ivy McClure, also wrote a tribute to the sister, whom she said would always be remembered for her “kind heart, your humor, your intelligence, your brightness.”

“I will miss you for the rest of my life,” she wrote. “You have been my best friend since the day we were born.”

Millions of people pass through drive-thrus every single day. But for one man in Canada, it tragically became his very last stop.

Tony Eyles, 42, from Vancouver, was described as “the kind of guy who would give you the shirt off his back.”

“He was just the most doting father and the most loving husband…he was just the perfect guy,” he told CTV News.

The husband and father of two stopped by a McDonald's drive-thru early on a September morning in 2021.

Surveillance cameras captured him paying for his order at around 5:30 a.m. 

He then dropped his bank card on the floor and opened the door to pick it up. As he leaned out of the vehicle to pick it up, the vehicle was still moving forward and crushed him within seconds.

“The vehicle rolled forward, colliding into a structural piece of the restaurant,” the Vancouver Police Department said at the time. 

“The driver was unable to free himself from the vehicle as he was pinned between the vehicle door and frame.”

First responders provided medical attention, but he was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Brother-in-law Neal Pender said everything Tony did was for his wife, Caitlin, and his two children, who were eight and six when they lost their father.

“They have made some comments about how much they are already missing their dad. His son said to me yesterday, ‘I only got to know my dad for eight years, it’s not long enough,’” Neal told CityNews Vancouver.

“It’s impossible to say anything to him about that other than just reminding him about how awesome his dad was. My sister is struggling, of course,” he added.

Giulia Manfrini lost her life doing what she loved, according to the people who knew her.

The 36-year-old woman from Turin in northern Italy was on a surfing adventure in Indonesia when a “freak accident” claimed her life in October, 2024.

Surfing in the waters off Masokut Island in the Mentawai Islands, Giulia was enjoying herself until she had a dangerous encounter with a swordfish.

The marine creature leaped out of the water and stabbed her on the left side of her chest, prompting two witnesses to rush to her aid. She received medical attention but could not be saved.

“Even with the brave efforts of her partner, local resort staff and doctors, Giulia couldn't be saved,” James Colston, who had established a travel agency with the swordfish-impaled victim, wrote on social media.

Local authorities confirmed that Giulia lost her life while surfing. 

“Unexpectedly, a swordfish jumped towards Manfrini and stuck her right in the chest,” Lahmudin Siregar, acting head of the Mentawai Islands Regency Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), told local news outlets at the time.

James called the incident a “freak accident” but believed his former colleague spent her final moments “doing what she loved, in a place that she loved.”

It is extremely rare for swordfish to attack humans, but they can be very dangerous when provoked. They are fast-moving predators and swipe their heads from side to side to tear apart prey like squid and fish.

Swordfish are open-ocean animals found in deep water, but it is not unheard of for the creature to be involved in an attack on an animal or an object like a boat or a research submersible. But it is rare to hear of them fatally impaling human beings.

“Normally, you wouldn't see a swordfish swimming around in the harbor,” Heidi Dewar, a fisheries research biologist with NOAA Fisheries in La Jolla, California, told National Geographic.

Heidi said beach lovers normally do not have to worry about having an encounter with a swordfish. But if the creature is spotted, “it's inadvisable to jump into the water with these animals,” she added.

If Keisha Edwards were standing a few feet away from her spot on an Atlanta roadway, she may still be alive and able to narrate a story about surviving an accident.

She and a male friend were driving on the 5300 block of Woodruff Farm Road in Columbus when their vehicle was involved in a crash.

Both the 26-year-old woman and her friend made it out of the accident unscathed.

They then safely stepped out of their vehicle and surveyed the damage, along with a passerby who stopped and offered them help.

The three of them were surveying the damage when another elderly woman drove her car up a nearby telephone guyed wire.

The impact led to the utility pole on the other side of the road to snap in half, falling exactly where Keisha, her friend, and the passerby were standing.

“When the pole broke it became a pendulum, swung and hit the three people, k*lling Keisha,” Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan confirms to People.

“This is a very freak accidental de*th,” he added. 

While Keisha lost her life, her friend was left with a broken leg, and the passerby sustained a foot injury.

“Basically, it was a one-car accident — car vs. pole — and everything you would want to happen happened,” Columbus Police Lt. Lance Deaton told News 3. 

“All the right things,” he added. “They appeared to be okay. Someone stopped to help.”

Australian tourist Brooke Day suffered a cardiac arrest while vacationing with friends at the Tsugaike Mountain Resort in Japan in February this year. 

But the moments that led to the cardiac arrest were unimaginable.

The 22-year-old tourist took the ski lift and wound up being dangled in the air for a while before somebody finally noticed.

While on the ski lift, a “buckle at the end of an unfastened waist belt attached to a backpack” got “caught in the lift carriage,” the resort’s operator said in a statement.

“Since the chest strap was fastened, the backpack remained attached to the body,” the company continued. “After disembarking the lift, the customer was dragged along with the backpack.”

Brooke was left dangling 26 feet above the ground as the lift continued to move. 

When a staff member noticed, they pressed the emergency stop button, and help finally reached the tourist after 15 minutes.

Rescue efforts were carried out, and the customer was transported by ambulance.

Brooke suffered a cardiac arrest and was transported to a hospital, but she unfortunately could not be saved.

Tsugaike Mountain Resort president and representative director Tsuneo Kubo released a statement following her passing.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the bereaved family and sincerely pray for the peace of the departed,” Tsuneo said. 

“Our company will respond with sincerity and dedication to the bereaved family and the deceased guest.”

In an unbelievable twist of fate, Prince William's friend and billionaire Sunjay Kapur, passed away in the middle of a polo match in the UK last year.

The billionaire was 53 years old when he collapsed to the ground and tried telling his teammates, “I’ve swallowed something.”

That “something” he swallowed turned out to be a bee.

“He was full of life, laughing, joking, then gone in an instant,” a source was quoted as saying.

It is believed the bee stung the inside of his mouth, causing Sunjay to go into anaphylactic shock, resulting in a heart attack.

Anaphylaxis is an allergic reaction that can be sudden, severe, and life-threatening. It involves the whole body, where the airways are constricted, causing a difficulty in breathing.

A source close to the billionaire’s family said he was in “excellent health” at the time of his passing.

“No one could believe what had happened,” they said. “It’s a shocking reminder of how fragile life can be.”

Sunjay was an acclaimed billionaire and chairman of global car parts giant Sona Comstar, and was married to Indian actress Priya Sachdev at the time of his passing.

Previously, he was married to the famous Bollywood star Karisma Kapoor. They tied the knot in 2003 and welcomed two children together before finalizing their divorce in 2016.

In her plea, Karisma accused the father of her children of running off to play polo with the heir to the British throne while their son was ill.

“(Sunjay) decided to carry on, leaving me behind to take care of our sick four-month-old son, just to play a Polo match with Prince William,” she said.

“I also realised that he had married me only because I was a famous and successful film star, which would facilitate him to be reported in the press,” she added.

Karisma claimed his desire to be “famous” was a surprise and said he “never did any deed worth mentioning” and failed to “garner any attention.”

There was no warning and no time for Aleia Lopez to escape. Just one second, and an ill-fated turn of events took her life in May 2024.  

Before she left for work at Western Psych in Pittsburgh, her then-14-year-old son asked her not to go in that day. But she went anyway.

During her lunch break, the 51-year-old mother went on a walk with her colleagues and was on the sidewalk when a “large steel cylindrical drum broke free from a nearby construction site,” the City of Pittsburgh said in a press release.

The drum “rolled down a hill” and made its way through “adjacent construction fencing,” before it “struck” Aleia, the statement continued.

After leaving Aleia with serious head injuries, the large drum rolled across the street and eventually stopped.

Pictures shared online captured the drum in the middle of the street, resting beside a black pickup truck. Cops were also seen surrounding the drum.

“Bystanders in the area attempted to perform life-saving measures before medics arrived, but were ultimately unsuccessful,” Pittsburgh Police said.

Aleia’s mother, Melanie Hall, said she saw news reports in the afternoon reporting the incident and tried to call her daughter.

“I called her right away, I called her at work, I called her on her cell phone and I texted her and I said, ‘Call me right away and let me know you are alright,’” she told WPXI.

But no call came, forcing Melanie and Aleia’s three children to grapple with her loss. 

“It could have happened to anybody. It just happened to my child today,” she said. “I’m just glad no babies were hurt. No other children were hurt.” 

Melanie said Aleia was “the rock” for her three children, and she and her teen son felt “so broken up because she didn’t stay home.”

“He feels if she had just listened to him, she would still be here,” she told the outlet. 

Addelaid Ferreira Watt, 51, a government attorney in South Africa, appeared at the Ixopo regional court on a November day in 2019.

She was the prosecutor in a home robbery case, in which a group of five men allegedly stole a firearm from a couple, Cheryl Biggs and her husband, Dave, from their farm in Ixopo.

Following the robbery, the weapon was retrieved and returned to the couple for their possession. But it was later handed back to law enforcement agents for the trial.

The very same weapon, brought to court as evidence, went off in court and struck an unsuspecting Addelaid in her hip.

“I am extremely distraught,” Cheryl told The Witness at the time, and said she wasn’t sure if the firearm was loaded when she handed it over to be entered as evidence.

Addelaid was rushed to the hospital but was eventually pronounced deceased.

The police officer, Muzi Euchalystius Mkhize, who had accidentally fired the weapon, was placed under investigation. And it was eventually found that he failed to check the firearm before it was brought to court as an exhibit in the farm robbery case.

Investigators also found that the cop fell asleep in court and mistakenly fired a bullet that wound up claiming Addelaid’s life.

Muzi Euchalystius Mkhize pleaded guilty to culpable homicide and was sentenced in 2022 to six years' imprisonment, wholly suspended for a period of five years with conditions.

The officer said he mistakenly believed the firearm wasn’t working and failed to check whether it was loaded or safe.

“He said that during court proceedings he had dozed off and was startled when the court suddenly adjourned. This caused him to lose control” of the weapon, a spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority, Natasha Kara, said in 2022.

A bullet was fired as Muzi tried to regain control of the gun, added the spokesperson.

Addelaid, who was sitting diagonally across from him, was “struck on her left hip and subsequently [passed away] due to a loss of blood,” Natasha continued.

“Mkhize admitted that in trying to regain control of the firearm, he unintentionally pressed the trigger or caused the firearm to discharge a round,” they continued.

The officer asserted that he did not intentionally fire at the lawyer because they had “shared a fruitful working relationship” in the past.

Addelaid’s daughter, Lindsay Ann Hawkins, spoke about the devastation and grief she felt over her mother’s loss in an impact statement.

Natasha spoke about Lindsay’s impact statement and said the bereaved daughter described Addelaid as a “kind and vibrant” mother who lit up the room when she walked in.

“Hawkins said that she has suffered psychological, emotional and physical trauma as she and her mother were inseparable,” Natasha said.

Ava Ahlander, 23, had traveled all the way from Seattle to Salt Lake City, Utah, with her friends to attend the REDWEST Country Music Festival last year.

Sadly, the festival was canceled due to bad weather, ruining Ava’s plans of seeing Post Malone perform live.

The group took refuge from the rain, lightning, and strong winds in their car, parked near a construction site near the festival grounds.

When Ava stepped out of the car at some point, she was struck hard by a wooden board that came loose in the wind.

“It just hit her in the head... in the neck. It was hard. It was fast,” her uncle Bobby Ahlander told KUTV. “The doctors said after they were able to get her stable and do a CT scan that it basically crushed her brain stem.”

After doctors determined that she had lost brain activity, they kept her on life support until her family was ready to say their final goodbye.

“As you can imagine, this was absolutely devastating news and I am grief-stricken,” Bobby wrote in a Facebook post at the time. 

Calling his niece an “absolute delight of a human being,” he said she had the “best smile” and “everyone loved her.”

“I love her and will miss her,” he added.

In February this year, Ava’s parents filed a lawsuit against the Kier Construction Corporation, which was responsible for the construction site adjacent to the group’s car.

They accused the construction company of being negligent and not properly storing their equipment or building materials.