WATCH: LaDonald Griffin and his son Christopher Davis talk about the loss of Christina Davis.
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OAKLAND — LaDonald Griffin was on the phone with his wife Christina Davis when he heard her piercing scream and the sound of clanking metal and broken glass.
That tragic moment on March 23 touched off a nearly two-month cycle of pain, grief and loss compounded when Griffin and the couple’s six children were stranded in Florida, until the community stepped in to bring the Oakland family home Sunday.
It started when Davis traveled alone to Jacksonville in March to visit family. They were on their way to see the movie “Black Panther” when the Toyota Corolla she was riding in crashed head-on into a Jeep Patriot, and then was hit by a Chevrolet truck. Davis, 35, and three other family members were killed. Griffin and the kids had just seen the same movie in Oakland, and he had called his wife to chat when the accident happened.
“We were just having a wonderful conversation and then next thing you know I heard her scream,” Griffin said.
Griffin broke the news to the kids, ages 6 to 15, all students in Oakland schools. They packed their bags and left for Jacksonville to help plan and carry out Christina’s funeral, but they were unable to afford plane tickets back, leaving them stuck in Florida for the next 45 days.
Hong Thach, a friend of the family and member of the Oakland Public Education Fund, found out about the family’s dilemma when he asked the principal of Alliance Academy how one of the Griffin children was doing, and the principal told him the child had not been in school. Thach, alarmed, said he organized a deal between United Airlines and the Oakland Public Education Fund providing the kids and their father with airline tickets to fly back in time for Mother’s Day. He said the United representative acted quickly.
“I was shocked that she did it in 12 hours,” he said. “I was telling everyone it was meant for them to be back on Mother’s Day.”
During an interview Monday at the family home, 15-year-old Christopher Davis, a sophomore at Castlemont High School, quietly spoke about his mom.
“I love her and she was the best mom ever, and she went through a lot to make sure everybody was on the right track to pass in school, and it’s not going to be the same,” he said. “If you need help, she’d help you. If you ask her something, she tried her hardest to get it.”
Griffin was also still grappling with the loss. He said Davis was his best friend; she made him a better person and raised their six kids to work hard in school and show compassion to others.
He was 19 and she was 18 when they met, and dated for 10 years before getting married and moving to Oakland. Davis had two children of her own, and they had seven together, although one died at a young age. The children, who are now back in school, also attend Bridges Academy and Alliance Academy. Griffin said Davis made sure they kept on track and earned good grades.
On Monday, he flipped through a vinyl black book filled with hand-sketched drawings and pencil-scratched social messages, many detailing police brutality. He said Davis encouraged him to pursue his artistic passion.
“If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have been able to do any of these,” he said .
And right before she died, Griffin penciled the outline for a sketch of the couple and their children. He wanted to surprise her with it as a present, not for any special occasion, rather “just because I love her.”
“I feel so bad I never got to show it to her,” he said.
The family has set up an account to help with expenses, which had reached more than $31,000 as of Tuesday morning. The account can be found at www.gofundme.com/griffin-oakland.