Woman loses mom, siblings in crash year after dad died

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    Climax, NC (WXII) — Family members are identifying the three people who died in a fiery crash in Guilford County on Wednesday morning.

Sharon Curtis Norman, of Climax, says her daughter, 37-year-old Miranda Curtis, and two of Curtis’ children were killed in the wreck.

Family members say Zyilyan Curtis was 14 years old and Aryanna Curtis was 8 years old.

Their older sister, 22-year-old China Curtis, now has no siblings or parents. Her father died last year.

“Now this right here, to lose your whole family in one thing, I don’t know how she feels. I still have her and she has me, but I know it’s different having your mama and your sisters. I know how I felt when I lost my mama, so I know she’s going through a lot,” said Curtis Norman, China Curtis’ grandmother.

Curtis Norman says the whole family is still trying to process what happened.

“It’s hard to know that I lost my daughter, but to lose two grandkids but then you left a daughter that has no mother anymore or any siblings, and it’s just hard to swallow right now,” Curtis Norman said. “Everybody is in shock. But not to be able to even look at them one more time, I think that’s the hardest part. For them to tell you that the only way they can identify them is through their dental records is unbelievable.”

Curtis Norman recalls her last conversation with her daughter.

“She asked me to leave her a cigarette on the kitchen table, and I told her, ‘OK.’ All of my children, when they leave, either way, they say, ‘I love you,’ and I told her that I love her back. That’s just something that our family does, and then I went to work. Then when I got the call from the person who she was talking to who was saying that her car was running hot and she had said something about, ‘Oh my god,’ and he said the phone went dead, and he said that he couldn’t get in touch with her. I kept trying to call, and I was calling my other granddaughter’s phone, so then I started calling the schools. They never got to school,” said Curtis Norman.

Curtis Norman says her daughter was smart, outspoken and strong-minded.

“Zyilyan met no strangers. Neither did Aryanna. They knew so many people. They were good kids,” Curtis Norman said.

“We have a praying family. I have a lot of family support, and that’s the only thing that is really going to get us through that. The only thing I see that’s good that’s going to come out of this is that the family will get closer together because you never know when you’re going to see each other again.

“God has his reasons for everything, and sometimes we want to question it, but it’s not for us to question. I just hope everything will be alright.”

Curtis Norman says she wants to learn more about why her daughter’s vehicle was rear-ended.

She says family members are planning to do a memorial service near the crash site in the coming days.

The State Medical Examiner’s Office is still working to officially identify the three people killed in Wednesday’s crash.

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