SEATTLE -- "We were almost home". Karla can't believe she is talking about the night she had no choice but to watch a hit and run driver blow a red light in and strike the car in front of her.
Inside that car were her husband, Jon, and their 3-month-old baby Jayden.
The couple spoke exclusively with Q13 FOX News Monday, just days before the accused hit and run driver, Matthew Hamilton, is expected to plead guilty to vehicular homicide in Pierce County Superior Court.
Karla and the couple's daughter were following Jon home in a borrowed truck the night of January 24th.
They were just a mile from their house - she describes seeing another car 'really hauling' east on 20th Street where it intersects with 70th Avenue East.
Jon driving on 70th was about to enter the intersection. She remembers thinking "If he hits Jon's car he'll hit the side... right where the baby is".
She remembers seeing the car pass behind some trees, then come back into view. "He wasn't slowing. All I could do was watch it happen."
Jon remembers the impact, the feeling of his car spinning out of control.
Then he remembers reaching into the backseat to feel for Jayden's breath on his hand. "He was quiet. But he was breathing."
Jon got out of the car as Karla pulled the baby carseat out. "The passenger side where Jayden was...was so crushed..I had to go around to the driver's side to reach him."
Neither had time to think about Hamilton, they just knew he was a 'coward' who had run from the scene on foot.
They remember watching medics perform CPR on their tiny infant's body. "That's my baby. That's my baby lying there." Karla says that moment, and every moment since keeps her awake at night.
Watch her full story in her own words on Q13 FOX News tonight at 9 and 10.
Inside that car were her husband, Jon, and their 3-month-old baby Jayden.
The couple spoke exclusively with Q13 FOX News Monday, just days before the accused hit and run driver, Matthew Hamilton, is expected to plead guilty to vehicular homicide in Pierce County Superior Court.
Karla and the couple's daughter were following Jon home in a borrowed truck the night of January 24th.
They were just a mile from their house - she describes seeing another car 'really hauling' east on 20th Street where it intersects with 70th Avenue East.
Jon driving on 70th was about to enter the intersection. She remembers thinking "If he hits Jon's car he'll hit the side... right where the baby is".
She remembers seeing the car pass behind some trees, then come back into view. "He wasn't slowing. All I could do was watch it happen."
Jon remembers the impact, the feeling of his car spinning out of control.
Then he remembers reaching into the backseat to feel for Jayden's breath on his hand. "He was quiet. But he was breathing."
Jon got out of the car as Karla pulled the baby carseat out. "The passenger side where Jayden was...was so crushed..I had to go around to the driver's side to reach him."
Neither had time to think about Hamilton, they just knew he was a 'coward' who had run from the scene on foot.
They remember watching medics perform CPR on their tiny infant's body. "That's my baby. That's my baby lying there." Karla says that moment, and every moment since keeps her awake at night.
Watch her full story in her own words on Q13 FOX News tonight at 9 and 10.
