Tuesday morning Catrina Davis sat outside her Hill Avenue home in Covington as overwhelmed as you could imagine.
“It’s crazy when you go from having everything where you’re comfortable, then all of a sudden it’s gone in the blink of an eye. I would have never thought of that. I just thank God, you know …”
Monday night a teenager fleeing from police crashed into her home, completely destroying the garage and severely damaging her laundry room.
“We were in the other part of the house and it just sounded like a crash, like things falling.”
She said she believes the car came from North High Street, which leads directly to her driveway. It clipped the right rear of her SUV, then totaled her Maxima. Also damaged were the deep freezer, washer, dryer and everything in the laundry room.
The bumper of her car, which was towed away, was still amongst the wreckage of paneled walls and laundry baskets.
Covington Police Chief Larry Lindsey said the officer reported he tried to initiate a traffic stop because of the car’s improper lights, but the driver, who is a juvenile, apparently ran through a stop sign.
Lindsey said the officer reported he disregarded, and had stopped at a nearby car wash, so the juvenile was reportedly not being actively pursued by police at the time.
The incident is being investigated, the chief said, to make sure all of the department’s policies and procedures were being followed. The driver was charged with felony evading arrest.
Catrina was getting ready to wash her sons’ football uniforms when the wreck happened. The rising sixth and eighth graders play for Crestview.
“I wash their uniforms at night and I usually would have been in there. Everything was just so neat and just for it … I know I wouldn’t have made it.”
Though the morning was humid, friends and family members sat on the porch while a television news crew filmed the house and reporters interviewed Catrina. Across the street, the garbage was being picked up. People walking through the neighborhood did a double take when they saw her house.
Life seemed to be going on as normal for others, but a car landing in her laundry room is a big blow to Catrina. A single mom, she was previously employed as a waitress and lost her job at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s hitting me so hard because of my boys,” she said, nodding her head in the direction of her sons. “They’re devastated. They’re real worried.”
They’re good boys, she said, very smart, athletic. They’re ready to start school in person next week.
“They’re well behaved, they go to practice every day. They’re just good kids. I know I couldn’t have avoided this, I just hate it happened. I just try to look out for my kids and provide a good home for them.”
She now has a home wrecked by someone allegedly evading a traffic stop, her power and water were shut off by the city because of a gas leak, they don’t have a place to go or food to eat, her primary vehicle was totaled, her other vehicle needs repairs, she is unemployed.
Her landlord said he’d begin repairs as soon as he can. If they have to move into a new home, plus have the vehicles fixed, she’s still likely looking at expensive deposits and costly repairs.
“When it rain, it pours. I was maintaining what I had to do, but I didn’t need no extra on me. This just brought me all the way back down.”
When asked what the family needs short-term – like a place to stay while repairs are sorted out – and long-term, she’s not yet sure.
“I’m just really overwhelmed,” Catrina said.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help alleviate the costs: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-smithdavis-family.
Author: Echo Day
Echo Day is an award-winning journalist, photographer and designer. She is currently The Leader's managing editor.
