CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It was a somber and emotional night on Friday as a community held a candlelight vigil for a mother and her toddler who were killed in a car crash in northeast Charlotte.
Balloons were released for Alicia McFarland and her 3-year-old son Liam.
[PAST COVERAGE: Woman charged after mother, toddler killed in multi-car crash]
“Every morning we come to school, we just expect them to walk into the building, and they are no longer there,” said Betsy Davis, who owns a day care nearby that Liam goes to.
Davis said McFarland was headed to drop Liam off at day care last week when they were killed.
“I drove right by the accident, didn't know that was Liam,” Davis said. “What's very heartbreaking, on Friday, he made a Mother's Day card for his mom, and she never got the card. She never got to see Mother's Day.”
Liam’s teachers, classmates and other families who knew him and his mother mourned together Friday night.
“Alicia was a very, very good parent, single mom, had her life together,” Davis said.
The day care is trying to help raise money for the McFarland family, and they are working to get the mother and son to their family in New York for a funeral service.
Montressa Gray is charged with two counts of misdemeanor death by motor vehicle.
Officers said she side-swiped a van on Eastway Drive.
The van then crossed the center line and hit the car that McFarland and her son were in.