Five minutes after this photo was taken my little girl was dead – I’d blown her a kiss as she popped out for ice cream

BOUNCING her small lad connected her thigh Samantha Jensen admires the colourful flowers scattered crossed the room table.

“Looks similar someone’s been gardening again,” she says.

Right connected cue, the doorway flies open, and her three-year-old girl Scarlett skips successful holding picked blooms and belting retired her favourite Frozen song earlier presenting lavender to her two-year-old member Henry.

“Scarlett brought truthful overmuch colour and happiness into our lives,” Samantha, 27, says.

“There was thing she loved much than unicorns, picking flowers, listening to songs from the Frozen movies, and playing with her member and babe sister, Molly.

“She embraced everything, and enjoyed gathering caller radical and learning caller things.

“I inactive can’t judge she was snatched distant from america truthful cruelly.”

Days later, Samantha and her member Alex were getting acceptable to drawback a formation to be a wedding.

Molly was coming was going with their mum, but Scarlett and Henry were staying down with their dada Lane.

As Lane was moving Samantha’s mum Jamie agreed to travel and ticker the children.

“She told maine she was going to instrumentality them retired for crystal pick and I knew Scarlett would emotion that,” Samantha says.

Just earlier catching their plane, Scarlett FaceTimed her mum.

“My usually blessed small Scarlett was crying,” she remembers.

“She was upset that her snowglobe had broken, but I told her that her grandma was taking her for crystal pick and I promised to bargain her a caller snowglobe portion I was away.

“And I kept that promise.”

Only Samantha ne'er got to springiness Scarlett her snowglobe.

“After a beauteous wedding, we returned home,” she says.

“After our level landed, I turned my telephone on, and an exigency alert came through.

“It was notifying maine of a dense constabulary beingness connected the roadworthy wherever I lived, and I felt worried.

“I phoned Mum, but she didn’t prime up, truthful I phoned Lane but helium didn’t cognize anything.

“Then, a formation attendant called my sanction retired implicit the tannoy, and I was informed that constabulary were waiting for me.

“In the airport, I spotted the 2 constabulary officers, and a question of dread swept implicit me.”

Desperate for answers Samantha asked the constabulary officers who were hurt, but they didn’t cognize and told her to telephone her section hospital.

“I phoned and a doc told maine that Henry was deed by a car,” Samantha, who lives successful Idaho, remembers.

“He explained that Henry had been taken by chopper to a adjacent children’s hospital, and told maine to get determination arsenic rapidly arsenic possible.

“I was successful disbelief.”

Samantha near Molly with Alex, travelling with constabulary officers to the hospital.

“I inactive hadn’t heard from Mum, but I assumed she and Scarlett were together,” she says.

“It broke my bosom to ideate however bittersweet and frightened Scarlett indispensable person been for her small brother. He was her champion friend.

“I phoned Lane and told him to conscionable maine astatine the infirmary wherever I was taken to spot Henry.

“He was unconscious and his tiny assemblage was hooked up to wires.

“His beauteous small look was covered successful blood. I cried arsenic I stroked his silky blond hairsbreadth and told him I was there.”

Then a caregiver appeared and asked Samantha to travel with her to the infirmary chapel.

There she told Samantha that her mum and Scarlett had besides been deed by the car. Jamie was being treated astatine the infirmary but Scarlett had been killed.

“I stared astatine her, trying to marque consciousness of what I’d conscionable been told,” she says.

“The words Scarlett didn’t marque it rang successful my ears.

“Then I screamed.

“My babe couldn’t beryllium dead, she was conscionable a babe and she had a shot crippled tomorrow.

“I reached into my container to drawback my telephone and I recovered the snowfall globe I’d bought for Scarlett.

“It deed maine then, however I’d ne'er spot her smiling small look oregon perceive her dependable again.”

Samantha phoned Lane who was travelling to the hospital.

“I sent his satellite crashing down,” she says.

“The wounded dependable that came from the different extremity of the telephone was thing I knew I’d ne'er forget.”

Soon after, Lane, Alex and Molly arrived astatine hospital.

“Lane and I held each different and cried,” the mum says.

“When we went to spot Scarlett, she looked truthful peaceful, arsenic if she was sleeping.

“We dressed her successful her favourite bluish formal and brownish suede shoes.

“We brought each her favourite toys to her, and we brushed her aureate curls, painted her nails and work her favourite bedtime communicative Goodnight Scarlett.”

Later that time the mates visited Jamie.  She’d suffered a breached collarbone, torn ligaments successful her leg, and a dislocated shoulder.

“When she saw us, she burst into tears and apologised,” she says.

“We reassured her that nary of this was her fault.”

Jamie explained however she’d taken Scarlett and Henry for ice-cream and a walk.

As they approached the household driveway, Scarlett wanted to beryllium fto retired of her buggy truthful she could prime immoderate yellowish and purple flowers she’d spotted.

But a 4x4 came hurtling down the ungraded road.

Jamie had waved and shouted astatine the operator to stop. She’d tried to propulsion the kids retired of the way, but helium was going excessively fast.

Scarlett was killed astir instantly. Jamie and Henry were critically injured.

The operator had fled the scene. But he’d aboriginal been caught and arrested.

Scarlett was aboriginal cremated.

“I rested my caput connected Lane’s shoulder, arsenic we watched her tiny casket vanish from view,” Samantha says.

“Through tears we sang her favourite opus Into the Unknown – Where are you going? Don’t permission maine alone. How bash I travel you, into the unknown?”

A mates of days later, Henry was discharged and returned home.

He’d suffered a fractured spine, six breached ribs, a breached jaw, a breached collarbone, a liver laceration and respective different injuries. He had to deterioration a afloat assemblage brace for 8 weeks.

“He would inquire wherever his sissy was and I told him that she was successful eden and portion we couldn’t spot her she’d ever beryllium with us,” Samantha says.

A mates of weeks aft Scarlett’s death, Jamie’s telephone was recovered from the transgression scene.

On it, was a photograph Jamie had taken of Scarlett taken moments earlier she was killed.

The photograph had been taken astatine 16:47pm and Scarlett’s clip of decease was 16:52pm.

“It was heartbreaking to look astatine the representation knowing what came next,” Samantha says.

Months later, Samantha discovered that she was pregnant.

“When I recovered retired I told Lane it was a acquisition from Scarlett,” she says.

Meanwhile, an probe into her decease began.

In time, Dakota James LaFountain appeared successful tribunal and pleaded blameworthy to vehicular manslaughter.

“We learnt that helium wasn’t nether the power of intoxicant oregon drugs erstwhile helium drove his car into our family,” Samantha says.

“He claimed helium was having a intelligence breakdown and didn’t retrieve a thing.”

LaFountain was sentenced to 10 years successful prison.

“It’s not close that he’s serving specified a abbreviated condemnation erstwhile helium robbed Scarlett of her full life,” Samantha says.

“Now, Scarlett’s babe sister Rosie is 18 months old. 

“Although they ne'er got to meet, we speech astir Scarlett each day, arsenic we privation her siblings to turn up knowing each astir their large sister.

“I’d springiness thing to person Scarlett back.

“But erstwhile I look astatine that past photograph taken of her, I consciousness grateful that her past moments were peaceful and happy, spent with her brother, picking flowers, and with a belly afloat of ice-cream.”