‘My only son’: Family of latest pedestrian crash victim shares pain
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A woman is facing charges on the heels of another deadly weekend on the road in Augusta.
Deputies arrested Megan Burton on Sunday in connection to the deadly accident on Gordon Highway that took the life of 39-year-old Barry Anthony Smith Jr.
“My doorbell rang and I thought it was my son. I opened the door and the lady was standing there and she just looked at me and I said ‘Please ma’am, don’t tell me something’s happened to my son,’” said Susan Smith, Anthony’s mom.
All she has left now are pictures of her son.
“That’s my son. That’s my only son and he’s not with me no more,” said Susan. “My son didn’t ever have a chance to have kids and he never will get to.”
Anthony shared a special relationship with his sister, Shannon Rickerson.
“That’s my brother. He is the only brother I had,” said Rickerson. “The world doesn’t know a bond between a brother and a sister like me and my brother were.”
The two had an unbreakable bond.
“He always used to pick at me, because he’s older than me. And I’m younger. But when you see my brother, he looks like he should be the older one. He’s much taller. So for a long time, I would always say ‘Alright, now I said don’t forget. I’m the big sister.’ He goes ‘Yeah, but I’m bigger than you,’” said Rickerson.
Anthony is one of five pedestrian deaths in the past three weeks.
“He was just trying to cross the street,” said Susan. “He was 39 years old. He would have been 40 in January. Now I got to face the holidays without my son.”
Rickerson said: “Our conversations were what are we gonna do if something happened to mom and daddy? Because all we have is each other. We always talked about what we would do without Mom and Daddy, but we never talked about if it was each other.”
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