Family remembers grandmother, teen killed in Nelson County crash

NELSON COUNTY, Ky. (WAVE) - Jacqueline Houston’s home is filled with memories.

The family photos, knick knacks on the shelves and decorations on the wall combine to tell a story of a matriarch and her family.

Those memories are now all Houston’s family has left.

According to Kentucky State Police, Houston turned onto New Shepherdsville Rd. and into the path of another vehicle when her car was hit.

Houston, 70, and her 15-year-old granddaughter Makalyn Hill were killed in the crash. The driver and passenger in the other car were taken to Flaget Memorial Hospital with minor injuries.

“Makalyn needed her mama so much,” her mother Susan Houston said. “She would stub her toe and call me crying and sometimes she would make up reasons just to call me. Makalyn was an amazing little girl and she would’ve been an amazing woman.”

Houston described her daughter as an artist, someone with potential to be great.

Her sister, Kelsey Houston, called Makalyn her best friend.

“I just found out that she wanted to move in with me the first of the year, because she just, she was always there.,” Kelsey said. “She loved my son with her whole heart. I mean all of her nieces and nephews, she loved them and that was her.”

This family will never get those two people and personalities back, but they do have the memories of one last Christmas together and the solace of Houston’s husband telling his wife ‘I love you’ one last time before the wreck.

“If you know you’re never going to see them again, what’s the one thing you’re going to say to them is ‘I love you,’” Randy Houston said. “So he gets to live with that now, knowing they’ve been together for 52 years and his last words to her was ‘I love you.’ So that just, that’s what it’s all about I guess.”

Kentucky State Police is still investigating the crash.

Several people who live near Shepherdsville Road told WAVE 3 News that road is dangerous, and has been site of several wrecks in the past.

They believe state leaders need to make changes to prevent another deadly crash from happening on that stretch of highway.

The visitation for both Hill and Houston will be 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Dec. 30, at the Houghlin-Greenwell Funeral Home.

Her family requests expressions of sympathy take the form of contributions to ARC Crown Recovery Center, 2735 Bardstown Rd.

Copyright 2021 WAVE 3 News. All rights reserved.