A suspected drunk driver fatally struck a nine-month pregnant woman as she raced to the hospital in labor.
Tiffany Ann Woodham, 19, died Sunday soon after Thomas Jeremy Dick, 37, slammed his pick-up truck into the van she was riding in on a Winter Haven, Fla., highway, Bay News 9 reported.
Doctors tried to save the child, who Woodham had already named "Novalee," by performing an emergency C-section, but the baby died from injuries sustained in the horrific crash.
The fatal accident occurred just minutes after Woodham called her mother to tell her that she was having contractions.
"And I said, about how far apart? And she said, 'at this moment mom, and it's been this way for an hour, it about 30 minutes,'" Woodham's mother, Teresa Hidle, told Bay News 9.
Woodham was in a van with three others when Dick, who witnesses say was driving recklessly, rear-ended them.
Dick of Tulsa, Okla., was going 20 mph above the speed limit before the accident and had driven off the road more than once, authorities said.
The 37-year-old had a blood-alcohol content of 0.131, almost twice the state's legal limit of 0.08, according to initial testing. His blood was also taken for further analysis.
Dick, who suffered several bruises and cuts, faces charges of vehicular homicide, DUI manslaughter, DUI involving serious bodily injury, DUI crash involving property damage and DUI.
Two passengers in the van with Woodham were taken to a local hospital in stable condition. A third was flown to Lakeland Regional Medical Center with serious injuries.
Woodham's brother said he is heart-broken.
"I can't put into words, like I am so upset about it I can't even cry," Cody Breton told Bay News 9. "Every day I would wake up and rub my sister's stomach and tell her how much I loved her."