Daughter remembers late mom, Melville Mayor Velma Hendrix killed in Election Day crash hours before polls closed
MELVILLE, La. (KLFY) -- As News 10 reported last month, a crash on U.S. 190 near Port Barre took the life of Melville Mayor Velma Hendrix.
The crash occurred when a pickup truck failed to yield while crossing over both lanes of U.S. 190.
According to State Police, the truck struck Hendrix's vehicle.
She was sitting in the back seat.
For the first time since the crash, her daughter Sheila Hendrix is speaking with News 10.
As she relives the moment of impact, Hendrix says the past weeks have been difficult.
"It has been the most difficult time in our lives," Hendrix said.
"My mother is the first thing, the first person I think about in the morning and she's the last person I cry about at night. My family has been changed for life."
She also shares the pain that careless driving can cause to a family.
"When we fail to yield, when we fail to stop when we are in and out of traffic, it puts a hardship on families," Hendrix said.
"It just changes everybody and everything, I will never be the same I know that because my mother and I were very close and my whole family, so I know I'll never be the same."
Even through the hardship is a pain she has too bear, Hendrix says she will continue to remember the impact her mother made on her life.
"She was my role model. I didn't have to look to celebrities or anything like that, I had my role model. She was my counselor and chief, and when I had a problem or needed advice I could go to her. We traveled together, so I have nothing but good memories. The most my mother and I argued about was who took the hair rollers after we washed our hair and that was it."
Hendrix says she is also grateful for the outpouring of support her family has received since the crash.