Charlotte crash victims were ‘kind, caring, loving and joyful’ mother says
April Willis had no reason to believe she wouldn’t see her family again last Saturday, July 26, as they made their way to Carowinds. With season passes, they made the trip every weekend.
This started as just another Saturday for the family to spend time together at the park they loved.
But as they made their way down I-485, a collision with another vehicle would leave six people dead, including five of Willis’ family members.
She lost her daughter Taylor Willis, who was 23.
She lost her grandchildren, Brynlyn Holmes, age 1, and Addyson Holmes, age 3.
She lost her nephew, Kamron Wood, age 8.
And she lost her daughter’s boyfriend, Samuel Jacob Holmes, age 27.
“I just want people to remember them as kind, caring, loving and joyful,” Willis said in a phone interview with The Charlotte Observer on Wednesday.
The only survivor from the vehicle: Her other daughter Katelynn, 16, who is recovering from a broken pelvic bone at their home in Gastonia.
The rest of her family were escorted by a motorcade from the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner’s Office to a funeral home in Gastonia on Wednesday.
Holmes, the boyfriend, was driving when the family’s Chrysler van collided with a Honda CR-V driven by a 16-year-old from Mooresville who moved into their lane, according to the N.C. Highway Patrol. Both cars slammed into a tractor-trailer stopped on the shoulder; Logan Paul Sauer, the boy driving the CR-V, also died.
The patrol and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating and will release reports.
Since Saturday, people — even some she doesn’t know — came to her house to bring her food. People offered prayers. She’s glad she doesn’t have to get through what she’s going through on her own.
“I wish they were still here,” she said of her lost loved ones.
A boy who loved Hot Wheels
She said she’s grateful for the staff at Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte where Katelynn was treated. She was released Wednesday.
“They were just wonderful to her,” Willis said.
Katelynn was close with her sister, Taylor. They enjoyed watching Disney movies, with Taylor’s favorite character being Stitch from Lilo & Stitch.
She had her ups and downs with Taylor, she said, and she loved her daughter. Taylor had a lot to look forward to, she said. She was going to go to Gaston College soon to get her GED and was excited to be a mother.
And April loved being a grandmother, she said. Her grandkids were enamored with the cartoon dog Bluey and their blankets, she said. Her nephew, Kamron, loved Hot Wheels.
“Every birthday he wanted cars,” Willis said.
Kamron’s death is also hard on the boy’s grandfather (April’s brother).
“He’s doing his grief the way he can, and I’m dealing with my grief the way I can,” she said.
She thinks the grief she and her brother are experiencing will bring them together.
Her nephew’s funeral is planned for this week, she said, and the rest will have their funerals next week.
She’s expecting large attendance at both.
This story was originally published July 31, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
