MILTON –In life, she was “Princess Payton,” a little girl who liked to sing and dance and eat all day long.
But the last six weeks of Payton Lee Stone’s life were quiet – too quiet.
The 2-year-old Milton girl died Monday, six weeks after the wreck that killed her mom, 20-year-old Ronni Stone.
She had severe brain damage from the accident and never regained consciousness.
“This little girl fought to the last breath,” said her maternal grandmother, Tracie Goins, who had helped raise Payton from the day she was born. “She did it her way.”
Hours earlier, Payton’s hospice room had been filled with friends and relatives who wanted to say good-bye. After they left, she died with her grandmother by her side.
“She was just the light of our life,” Goins said. “She was so outgoing and bubbly.
“I’m going to miss her so much.”
Funeral arrangements are still being made. As of Tuesday morning, Payton’s body had not been released, due to the ongoing investigation into the Aug. 5 accident on State Road 87.
Ronni and Payton were passengers in a car driven by 18-year-old Alexis Penton of Milton, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Penton lost control of the car, which went into the southbound lane and was hit by a Mack truck.
Mother and daughter were flown to a hospital, but Ronni was already gone. They revived Payton, but couldn’t heal her, Goins said.
Ronni would not have wanted to live with injuries that severe, her mom said. And it was better for her not to see Payton suffer.
“I know my daughter wouldn’t have been strong enough to watch Payton the way she was,” Goins said.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Toddler dies six weeks after wreck that kills mom