Copiah County Teen Killed In Car Crash

By: Heather Burke | WJTV
Published: December 31, 2009

A teenage girl from Copiah County loses her life in an early morning car crash.
Deputies say 16-year-old Destiney Jackson lost control of her vehicle on Highway 28 West of Hazelhurst. She crashed into a tree.
Investigators say Jackson was not wearing a seat belt and did not have a driver's license.
The Copiah County coroner says there was no alcohol or drugs in Jackson's system.
Investigators say she may have been trying to swerve to avoid hitting a deer in the road.
"She's truly gonna be missed, but she's in a better place," said her brother Clifford Jackson. He and his family are trying to cope with Destiney's sudden death.
"I always loved her and always will," said Jackson. "She knew that cause I showed it everyday, every single day. When I did something for my kids, I did it for her too cause I treated her like she was my own."
Investigators say Destiney and her family were out and she wanted to race them home. She took one family member's car keys without permission, but her ride home ended when she lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a tree.
"I wish she wouldn't have done what she had done, but you can't change anything," said Jackson. "I wish it wouldn't have taken her life because vehicles can be replaced any day."
The family says they eventually plan on going out to where the accident happened to put a cross in Destiney's honor.