Family remembers LSU student killed in crash while traveling home to North Texas: "She was the best thing that I could ever have."
A Louisiana State University student heading home to Red Oak to see family died over the weekend.
Sherqueena Jackson said Friday evening, as she was waiting for her 19-year-old daughter, Courtney Hodge, to arrive, she got a call.
"All I remember is just getting in my car and driving and people kept calling me, telling me to pull over. I wasn't in a condition to drive, and I was like, 'It's my baby. I got to get to her. She's scared. She's alone. She needs me. She needs to know that I'm my way to get her,'" said Jackson.
Police say the wreck happened in Louisiana on Highway 190 near Jennings Road. Investigators say Hodge rear-ended a semi and died at the scene.
"My husband drove us down to Louisiana so we could see her and let her know that I was here, and that she didn't have to be by herself and be afraid," said Jackson.
Hodge, who just finished her first year at LSU, was driving back home to Red Oak to spend the holiday weekend with family.
"My last Mother's Day was with my baby... My baby Courtney. She graduated top 10 of her class from Red Oak High School," said Jackson.
She was also very athletic, grew up playing soccer and was a cheerleader. Hodge, a political science major, had aspirations of becoming a lawyer.
"The thing I'm most proud of with Courtney is the person that she was. Courtney had a really big heart, and she was the kind of person that was a friend to all," said Bryan Jackson, Hodge's Stepfather.
She was also a role model to her little sister.
"She was the best thing that I could ever have. She was my best friend. I'll would always hang out with her, I'll always be with her," said Carter Jackson.
