SPALDING COUNTY, Ga. — A local family said they are reeling after finding out that a local firefighter is accused of videotaping their daughter’s body at the scene of an accident and then showing it around town.
Dayna Kempson-Schacht, 23, was killed when her car crashed into trees in Spalding County in July.
Channel 2 Action News reporter Eric Philips spoke with the family on Monday after they saw the video for themselves.
The county did not tell Philips much about the situation, but the family said that investigators told them that a firefighter at the scene of the accident shot the video. The family said they were told the firefighter talked about the video and shared it by text message with patrons at a local bar.
The family said one of the people who received the video recognized Dayna and called her family.
“She was an angel. She was my angel,” said the victim’s mother, Lucretia Kempson.
On July 17, Kempson-Schacht was driving on Georgia Highway 19-41 where it bypasses downtown Griffin when she lost control, ran off the road and slammed into trees. Crosses now mark the spot where she died.
“(It was) a very violent, very horrific crash,” said the victim’s father, Jeffrey Kempson.
Her parents, Jeffrey and Lucretia Kempson, said they thought that was the darkest day of their life until two-and-a-half months later they got a call that cell phone video of their daughter’s severely injured body at the crash was being shown around town by a firefighter who shot the video with his personal phone.
On the video, which Channel 2 Action News chose not to air, a person can be heard describing the scene and saying, “Look at that piece of skull right there on the console.”
“It was someone’s daughter. And someone’s mother,” said Lucretia Kempson.
Her parents said the young mother of two was a very strong, independent woman who smiled constantly. Now, her parents said they can’t get the video out of their mind.
“She was disrespected by people that we trust to take care of us,” said Lucretia Kempson.
“We want to do whatever it takes to make sure this never happens again,” said Jeffrey Kempson.
Philips spoke with the Spalding County fire chief and he said the firefighter is on investigatory leave with pay. He referred Philips to the county attorney for more details. The county attorney had no comment.
