Neighborhood supports family of West Jordan mom killed in Big Cottonwood Canyon crash
Aug 16, 2022, 7:30 AM | Updated: 7:33 am
WEST JORDAN, Utah — A neighborhood is coming together for a family after a terrible crash in Big Cottonwood Canyon left a West Jordan mother dead.
Unified Police said Monday morning’s crash was caused by a dump truck whose driver claimed the brakes stopped working, killed Jessica Keetch Minnesota, and sent her two young children as well as her mother to the hospital.
The family was heading up the canyon, UPD Sergeant Melody Cutler said, as the dump truck came barreling down and attempted to use the hillside as a runaway truck ramp, crossing over the line and hitting Minnesota’s car.
West Jordan woman killed in crash with truck in Big Cottonwood Canyon
Cutler explained that Life Flight took Minnesota’s four-year-old son to Primary Children’s Hospital, while the mother’s two-year-old daughter was taken by ambulance. Minnesota’s 61-year-old mother was also taken to the hospital in critical condition.
A University of Utah Health spokesperson said that Jessica was a speech pathologist at the Craig H. Neilsen Rehabilitation Hospital at the University of Utah Health Services.
Monday evening, neighbors of the Minnesota family gathered on their street with ribbons and balloons. Dozens of people walked up and down, tying white, gray, and mint-colored ribbons– Jessica’s favorite color–on lamp posts and trees. They also decorated the Minnesota family house.
They expressed their desire to support the family and let Jessica’s husband, children, and mother know that they’re here for them.
Neighbors placing ribbons across her neighborhood to support the family.
A neighbor set up a GoFundMe* to help the family with funeral and medical expenses.
Sgt. Cutler said a team is investigating the crash, including what exactly went wrong with the dump truck. She noted that dump trucks were driving up and down Big Cottonwood Canyon, carrying loads up. This dump truck was empty and making a return trip down the mountain when it crashed.
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