3/11/20

Junior Keeosha Edwards in a photo from Facebook. (SPECIAL TO SNN)

By CYNTHIA LAWSON and ANGELINE BEARD
SNN Staff Writers

Keeoshia Edwards, a junior who died in a car accident in early February, had close friends at Lakewood who felt deeply for her. One was junior Skydasha Wiggins, who recently broke down talking about her friend.

“Me and Keeoshia’s best memory… everything. … I remember when we were dancing and making dumb videos. … She was so sweet, and she was funny,” Wiggins said. “I used to want to come to school all the time just to hang out with her.”

The last thing she would tell Edwards, she said, would be that she loved her.

Edwards was in a car crash on I-275 N around 6:21 a.m. on Feb. 8. She was a passenger in a car driven by Erinasha Jones, 18, which collided with another car and slammed into two trees, according to the Florida High Patrol. The Toyota Camry Jones was driving spun out of control and landed on the shoulder of the exit ramp. While Jones, who survived the crash, was wearing a seatbelt, neither Edwards nor the other passenger, Jiana Minaya, were. Both Edwards and Minaya died from their injuries at Bayfront hospital.

Jones was arrested on Feb. 27 and charged with two counts of vehicular homicide and taken to the Pinellas County jail, FHP Sgt. Steve Gaskins said. According to the report, the crash was alcohol related. “Preliminary indicators are that the driver was 0.06,” Gaskins said.

Keeoshia was one of 13 children. She had 10 sisters and two brothers. Her sister, Towana Edwards, who attends Lakewood High School, declined to comment.

Art teacher Larry West was one teacher who was close to Edwards.

“She was so fun-loving. She always had a joke or smile for you when she was in class. Always would make my day in the morning. … She had a very happy spirit and very confident,” he said. “She did some very nice artwork also, so I appreciate her being in (my) class.”

Assistant principal Susan Alvaro remembered Edwards for her generous and loving spirit and improvement throughout the years.

“Keeoshia started here in ninth grade and she was such a little firecracker, just this little petite thing, but when she lost her cool, she lost it,” Alvaro said. “This year though, she was like the perfect student. I’m not sure if it was because her sister was with her or what have you, but she turned it around completely. She was super pleasant to work with, always in a good mood, helpful to others, just this super nice, sweet child this year. Always making sure her people had what they needed.”

Edwards was a motivation and inspiration to a lot of people, Alvaro said, especially tending to kids that might not automatically fit in.

“She tried to make people feel comfortable,” she said.