Leila Potts Was 19 and Pregnant When a Car Ran a Red Light Both She and Her Baby Died

Leila Potts was 19 years old and pregnant when she was in a car that ran a red light around 11:30 p.m. on June 20 in Phoenix. The collision was serious enough that she was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.

Doctors delivered her baby, a son named Vincent, but he didn't survive. Leila died from her injuries shortly after.

The man driving the car, who was the father of her baby, was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The other driver was uninjured. Police say impairment doesn't appear to be a factor.

Who She Actually Was

Leila's father, David, released a statement about his daughter: "She was a bright, funny, beautiful person and was full of life."

That's not generic. That's specific. She wasn't just someone who existed. She was someone who had personality, who people noticed, who brought something to the people around her.

"She loved drawing, cats, and her friends," David said. "Her sense of style was unmatched; she was always the best dressed."

These are the things that made her Leila. Not statistics. The fact that she loved to draw. The fact that she had strong opinions about fashion and was good at it. The fact that she had friends and they mattered to her.

"This is so unfair and horrible," David said.

What Her Family Lost

They lost a daughter. They lost a granddaughter or grandson (Vincent was a boy, but the family structure matters; Leila's parents lost their child and their grandchild in the same moment).

They lost someone who was 19 years old. She had a whole life ahead of her. She was having a baby. She was drawing, being with friends, and figuring out who she was going to be as an adult and as a mother.

And then a red light. A collision. A hospital. And both Leila and Vincent were gone.

The Practical Weight

Leila's best friend, Zachary Zaremba, set up a GoFundMe for funeral costs. Because that's what happens now, you lose your daughter and your grandson, and you have to figure out how to pay to bury them both.

Zaremba wrote: "The heartbreak and shock have left the family reeling, struggling to come to terms with the loss of both mother and child."

He's asking for money to cover funeral expenses for Leila and Vincent so the family can focus on grief instead of logistics. The goal is $7,000. As of June 22, they'd raised about $2,200.

That's the weight David is carrying. Not just the loss. The practical, financial, immediate weight of having to bury his daughter and his grandson.

The Unfairness

David said it clearly: "This is so unfair and horrible."

Because it is. A 19-year-old wasn't supposed to die. Her baby wasn't supposed to die. They weren't supposed to be in a car that ran a red light. They weren't supposed to be on that road at that moment. None of it was supposed to happen.

But it did. And now Leila's parents are grieving someone bright and funny and beautiful, and full of life. Someone who loved drawing, cats, and her friends. Someone who had a baby and was going to be a mother.

Leila Potts was 19 years old. She was pregnant. She had a sense of style, loved to draw, and had people who cared about her. She had a baby boy named Vincent.

And then one moment changed everything. A car ran a red light. She was rushed to the hospital. Her baby was delivered but didn't survive. She didn't survive.

Her father is left trying to explain to people who she was while also trying to figure out how to bury her and his grandson. Her friends are left with the loss of someone who mattered to them. Her family is left with the absence of someone who brought light into their lives.

That's what happened. That's who she was.