Family and Friends Remember Young Woman Killed in DWI Wrong-Way Crash

Khadija McKenzie

By Davy V.

Khadijah McKenzie's friends truly loved the young woman they called "Diamond", who was killed early Saturday morning around 3 am, when a drunk driver going the wrong way on I-490 crashed head on into the vehicle she was driving.

One of those friends reached out to me asking for my help in getting the word out for a balloon-release being held Tuesday at Gates-Chili High School, in Diamond's memory.

Diamond's friend Avey, who like many, is mourning the loss of her friend, described McKenzie as a funny, bright person who wanted to be a nurse.

Khadija McKenzie at 14 years old,
where she writes about her goals
and of making her mother proud.

"She loved to cook and loves art", said Avey, who in using present and past tense in the same sentence, it's clear she still hasn't accepted that her friend is gone.

According to New York State Police, 30-year old Robert Rector, of Fairport, was driving the wrong way on Interstate 490 westbound, near the Ames Street exit when he hit an SUV driven by McKenzie.

Police say Rector, who was drunk, did not have his headlights on.

State Police say McKenzie was pronounced dead at Strong Memorial Hospital. 

Robert Rector was charged with manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated.

Khadija McKenzie is Jamaican.

Her mother still lives in Jamaica. 

"Hearing the news shocked my mom so much that she ended up in the hospital this morning," said Sapphire Lumley, Khadija's sister.

Lumley says the holidays will never be the same without her sister around.

"Without her here for her to cook and be a part of it and sitting around the dinner table on Thanksgiving or opening presents Christmas morning, it's going to be heartbreaking," she said, adding, "I haven't really left the room ever since I got home from the hospital. I just sat here and watched TV and I laid down on the pillows. It made me feel like shes still here that shes not fully gone."

A Facebook page, titled "For Khadija, Our Final Farewell", invites Diamond's friends, and anyone in the community, to come out for a balloon release honoring her memory, Tuesday November 26, 2013 at 6 pm, at Gates Chili High School.




Click link below to go to Facebook page for Khadija.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1425400204343482/?notif_t=plan_user_invited

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