A St. Louis family is mourning the tragic loss of an 18-year-old woman who was killed over the weekend after she fell off the roof of a moving SUV and was struck by a fire truck responding to an emergency, according to local authorities.
Nyla Simmons had just left a friend’s prom send-off party on Saturday night when she began dancing on top of a Cadillac Escalade as it drove through the streets of St. Louis, sources told KMOV. The vehicle had stopped at a red light, and as it turned left, Simmons lost her balance and fell to the road.
Moments later, a fire truck—responding to an emergency call with its lights and sirens activated—ran over Simmons, killing her, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department confirmed.
Her parents, Everett and Letrice Simmons, spoke with KMOV about the devastating news.
“We aren’t ever going to be the same after this … I’m still in shock right now,” said her father.
Her mother added, “We just wanted the best for Nyla. The incident is just tragic—the way she died is what hurts the most. Nyla was out having fun, that’s what she liked: having fun, hanging out with her friends.”
Simmons, the youngest of five siblings, had recently graduated from Fern Ridge High School after previously attending Parkway North. She was scheduled to begin cosmetology school just two days after her untimely death.
The incident remains under investigation by authorities.
