Terrible Tragedy Claims Two Family Members

A Mother and her young son were killed in a tragic accident in the early morning hours in El Cajon, CA.

The accident happened just before 5am Pacific Standard time on the morning of Monday,Dec.13,2008,according to the police report. Another family member said the two were going to get donuts and then drive to Lindberg Field International Airport to pick up the boy’s father, the mother’s husband, John Kelley. The family member making the statement asked not to be identified, but didn’t make the trip because she had to be at school early.

The victim’s names were released Tuesday morning. They were Lisa Kelley,36 and Christopher Kelly,10 years old. The boy was a home school student, so was going to make the trip with his mother.Sadly,neither one of them ever made it to the car. After dumping the trash and walking in the back parking lot of their apartment complex, inclement weather contributed to their accidental deaths.

The ground was wet and slippery, with oil residue on the asphalt surface. The dumpster had been rolled out to be picked up by the forks and dumped in the back of the trash truck. This is when the tragedy happened.

The driver waved good morning at the Kelley’s, then his wet slippery boot slipped accidentally to the accelerator pedal, crushing them against a brick wall seconds later.

James Richards ,the driver of The Waste Ready Disposal Company actually knew both of the victims and was a friend of the family, according to one police seargent.The man was sobbing uncontrollably and was driven away in a squad car and taken to a local hospital for grief counseling.

The father, John Kelley, was notified by police about 6:15 am at the airport of the horrible loss.

Lisa Kelley was decapitated at the scene, and her head actually flew into the dumpster with the neck crushed, landing in a pile of cigarette butts and egg shells, some blood still spurting out of the upper part of the severed carotid artery. It was a grisly scene, as all of her ribs were crushed, protruding through the grill of the large truck, dripping bodily fluids and exposing one of her lungs.Hazmat was called out to clean up the massive pile of blood on the parking lot and a four foot splatter pattern of blood on the cinderblock wall.

The boy, Christopher Kelley’s skull was crushed between the dumpster and the wall, left arm was severed, dismembered below the shoulder, crushed fingers and exposed bones and ligaments hanging off the front of the truck. It was an horrific bloody sight and terrible mess. The boy’s eyeballs had popped out of his head and splattered on the windshield of the Victim’s car just about eight feet away. The actual brain matter of the young boy hit the front window of the trash truck, and slid down, leaving a nightmarish reminder of the mornings’ awful fatal event.

A dentist even had to be brought to the scene to remove teeth from both mother and son from the brick wall before the coroner could take the grotesquely mangled bodies away.

There will be no autopsy and it unknown at this time if a negligence charge or other charges will be pressed against the driver or The Waste Ready Disposal Company.

At this time there are no funeral arrangements announced.

A Kelley Family Memorial Fund has been set up at the local Red Cross if anyone would like to make donations to the grieving family.