Family speaks after woman killed in Kernersville crash
'I understand everything that happened. Everyone is upset about the building, but the building is replaceable. My sister isn't,' Vanessa Lawson said.
The Lawson family said addiction, mental health and bad influences are the deadly combination that led to the situation on Saturday.
Isabelle is accused of stealing a Corvette. Kernersville police officers spotted her driving the stolen car and tried to pull her over, but they say she sped away.
The chase lasted for about three-quarters of a mile and was under one minute long. The officer slowed down, and by the time they caught up with her, the car had crashed and she had died at the scene.
'It just breaks my heart that this situation has happened,' said Nancy Compton, Isabelle's grandma.
'She loved her son and she was trying so hard to do everything she could for him,' Vanessa said.
Isabelle had a troubled past, including a few arrests for drug possession and an ongoing addiction.
'I want everyone to know my daughter is a loving girl, not a thief they make her out to be … She did something wrong, but there were circumstances behind it that people don't know,' said Derek Lawson, Isabelle's dad.
Derek said that over the past year, she started to turn her life around and made better choices.
'Everybody that knows her knows that she just wouldn't go and do this. That there is something that happened that has caused this to happen,' Derek said.
Isabelle's dad spoke with her every day the week leading up to her death, but something seemed off.
'I think this past week she was emotionally troubled … I think that something wasn't right in her head that she made that mistake instead of asking for a phone or something else. She just got there and didn't know what to do and grabbed the keys,' Derek said.
Questions still linger about what went through Isabelle's head, what prompted her to take the car and what happened in the minutes before the crash, but Isabelle's family is certain about two things.
First, they will miss her.
'Because we lost her, she is here no more to see us, talk to us, laugh with us, and I am going to miss her awfully bad,' Compton said.
Second, they know exactly how they will always remember Isabelle.
'When she loved, she loved hard. Anytime you were in a room with her, you knew that she had your back no matter what. She would stand 10 toes right behind you,' Vanessa said.
The Lawson family asks for prayers during this time.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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