DAYTON — A family said they are hoping their daughter will be remembered for how she lived, not how she died.
Cayden Turner, a Chaminade Julienne graduate, was just 18 years old when Michael Quarles hit her in a crosswalk near the University of Cincinnati.
“She was caring, she was benevolent, I mean she had a smile that lit up a room,” S’Keisha Rembert-Wilkerson, Turner’s mother, said.
That is how Rembert-Wilkerson said she wants people to remember Turner.
“I just don’t want people to remember her as the UC student who got killed in a crosswalk. My daughter was more than the way she died,” she said.
Quarles pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide, vehicular assault, having weapons under disability, and failure to stop after an accident.
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A judge sentenced him to 12 to 16 years in prison.
“Twelve years is really not enough time considering my daughter is gonna be gone forever,” Rembert-Wilkerson said.
Cayden died at the hospital. Her roommate was seriously hurt but survived.
“It’s still I believe hard for her ... we have survivor’s guilt,” Rembert-Wilkerson said.
They believe Turner is watching over her younger brother Justice, who she only got to spend two years with.
“I felt like justice was served. He will get out and he gets a chance to start all over again and get a renewal and hopefully do the right thing,” Jermaine Wilkerson, Turner’s stepfather said.
“She never gave me one day of grief and I’m just honored to be her mom,” Rembert-Wilkerson said.
Another way loved ones are keeping Turner’s family alive is through the Cayden Turner Memorial Foundation Scholarship.
The money helps eighth-grade Immaculate Conception students pay tuition.
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