Nationwide — Ashley Hogan, a 35-year-old African American mom of five children, died on Christmas Eve when her car was struck by a train in north St. Louis County, Missouri. She was driving home from her nursing job around 3:30 a.m. when her car got stuck on the tracks.
Hogan had been preparing a special Christmas for her daughters, aged 6 to 15. After the tragedy, her mother, Vernadine Hogan, now faces the responsibility of raising her five granddaughters.
“I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the reality of I no longer have my daughter, and they no longer have their mom,” Vernadine said.
Meanwhile, the community has shown support, with Ferguson Police Officer Andrae Spraggin, a high school friend of Ashley’s, helping gather donations for the family at the police department. A GoFundMe campaign has also raised over $53,000 to support the Hogan family.
Vernadine expressed gratitude for the outpouring of kindness and hoped her granddaughters always remember how deeply their mother loved them.
“I don’t want them to think if she would have never walked out the door, if she would have never got in the car, if she had never went to work,” Vernadine said. “I want them to remember that she loved them so much.”