ST. GEORGE, Utah — A southern Utah family is grieving the loss of two siblings after they were both hit and killed in separate auto-pedestrian crashes within just a few days on 500 North Bluff Street in St. George.
As the older sister of the victims, Valerie Jones helped raise her younger siblings, Mardelle Parkin and Matthew Jones.
"My sister — she was so full of life and she's so positive and she naturally drew people to her," Valerie said. "My brother was a really amazing artist. He liked to draw a lot of things and ... he helped people."
On Wednesday, Valerie's 37-year-old sister Mardelle was walking on 500 North Bluff Street when she was hit by a car. She died on the scene. Details were limited, but police said the day after the incident that they did not anticipate filing any charges against the driver. The investigation is still ongoing.
"I could not breathe. I was just crying. I couldn't hold myself together. It was a nightmare because the week before it happened, I saw her and I had this feeling I wanted to go see her and talk to her, and I didn't," Valerie said.
After Mardelle was killed, family members went to the scene. Valerie was comforted by friends and family. Her brothers, Vince and Matthew, did what they could to make sure their big sister was OK.
"I hugged my brother Matthew that night at the crime scene, and we all didn't know what to do, but everyone just wanted everyone to be safe," Valerie said.
On Friday, just two days after Mardelle's death, Valerie got a call from her brother Matthew's friend. He told her that Matthew was dead.
"It felt like a joke, like nothing was real, and I said, 'What do you mean?'" Valerie recalled, "And he said, 'The same thing happened with Mardelle — the exact same thing. You need to come down. Hurry, hurry, hurry.'"
Matthew was 36 years old. He was hit in the same intersection as Mardelle. The driver who hit Matthew is suspected of driving under the influence of cocaine and was arrested on multiple charges, including negligently operating a vehicle resulting in death and DUI.
"Seeing his body lying there on the sidewalk and then Mardelle was on the outer side of the lane, in almost like the same area," Valerie said. "How are you supposed to believe that?"
As Valerie thinks about the intersection where her siblings were killed, she can't help but wonder if anything could've made a difference.
"It's very hard for me to know that they're gone, but once in a while I can see that I'm not going to get that phone call anymore or know there will be times we can have," she said.
A GoFundMe has been set up for the family to help them deal with the losses. It can be found HERE.
